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I K I N K S 

I ""l"'"'""ll"l"ll>"'llllilllIllllIllllllIIIllllllllllIIIIUllllIIIlUllllJIllllllllIIIllllll||||||llII|||||||||||l|||li||»^ 

I A Book of 250 Helpful Hints 

I for Hunters, Anglers 

I and Outers 




Edited by 

HARRY N. KATZ 

Kink Editor, Outer's Book 



WITH 214 ILLUSTRATIONS 



PUBLISHED BY 

THE OUTER'S BOOK COMPANY 

CHICAGO 

iqiy 



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SH -f-5/ 



COPYRIGHTED. 1917 
By THE OUTER'S BOOK COMPANY 






Press of the Blakely Printing Co., Chicago 



J 






P 



FOREWORD 



CJ INCE time immemorial it has been the custom of publishers to 
preface their books with some sort of a foreword. This first 
edition of the Kink Book needs but little in the way of introduction. 
A single glance at the text pages will be sufficient introduction for any 
sportsman, and it is for those who indeed possess the sporting spirit of 
fair play that this book is intended. To appropriate a phrase from the 
Father of Angling, "It is too good for ought but honest men." 

The many who have followed the Kink Column from month to 
month in Outer's Book will require no explanation of the purpose of 
this book. Others, however, may be sufficiently interested over its 
inception and development to make worth while a few words in that 
direction. 

A distinguishing mark of the true sportsman is his constant readi- 
ness to give freely to his brothers in sport the benefit of his knowledge 
and experience. Naturally the spreading of information by word of 
mouth is far too slow for the up-to-date American outdoorsman, and 
matters of major importance soon find expression through the pages of 
the various sportsman's magazines. But a vast number of small per- 
sonal tricks and practices have heretofore obtained but little publicity 
in this way. Individually they are scarcely important enough to serve 
as the basis of a regulation magazine article, and their originators, 
moreover, are often too modest or too unskilled with the pen to 
attempt anything so ambitious. 

It was to encourage the offering of these smaller items, therefore, 
that the Kink column was started in Outer's Book in March, 1915. 



The choice of the name "Kink" is almost self-explanatory. We antici- 
pated that the column would be interesting, but there was little advance 
appreciation of the great popularity of the movement and the very large 
store of valuable information that it has opened up. 

From the very beginning constant suggestions were received from 
readers for the publication of "Kinks" in book form, and with this 
volume the call is met. No claim is made that this book is either com- 
plete or authoritative. It is merely a collection of several hundred 
random facts, each vouched for by some sportsman who has found it 
of use during some phase of his outdoor Hfe. Yet, as it appears on 
the press, there is every indication that this book will be found both 
interesting and profitable reading by those for whom it is Intended. 

The editor cannot close without a word of appreciation for the 
hundreds of splendid men and women who have furnished the material 
for this book. They have given freely of their knowledge and with 
but little idea of material reward. A limited number of them have 
received the modest prizes that have been offered from month to 
month. But sheer love of sport has been the actuating motive behind 
every contribution. Many an old woodsman, to whom even the writing 
of a short letter is an awkward task, has sent in with knotty handwrit- 
ing and vague spelling, a halting description of the fruits of his 
wisdom. There has been a good deal of labor expended in whipping 
these suggestions into shape for the printer, but there has been pleasure 
as well — pleasure in the knowledge that by this work we were perhaps 
also doing our bit for the splendid Brotherhood of the Open. 

The Editor. 



To Charlie, who taught me how to drop 
a far-flung bait into a pocket in the 
lily pads ; 

To Dorse}^ who showed me how to 
dance a fly on a smiling pool ; 

To Bob, who told me how to draw a 
bead and press a trigger; 

To Hughie, who guided my first awk- 
ward attempt with a canoe pole; 

And to every Tom, Dick, and Harry 
who helps another, tenderfoot or 
old-timer, to enjoy the more, to un- 
derstand the closer, that vast her- 
itage of the outdoors which Nature 
has left in trust with such as them — 

This book is dedicated. 




H. N. Katz, Kink Editor, Outer's Book 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



A DUCK KINK 
By O. F. Clark 

The outfit here described weighs 
nothing and takes up no room. It 
should be welcomed by those who 
enjoy fall sport with the scat- 
tergun. 

Take a piece of cord similar to 
a heavy fishing line — a fish line 
will do — about six feet long. Tie 
a loop in each end. (See Fig, 1.) 
Now, in the middle of this string, 
tie a fishline or any strong string 
about 75 or 150 ft. long. (See 
Fig. 2.) Now roll it up on a 
small board about 2 by 4 in. in 
size, leaving the end with the two 
loops to be wound up last and put 
it in your hunting coat. Then 
when yoti go out and kill a duck 



out beyond your duck and by 
walking whichever way is neces- 
sary, you can pull the triangle 
over your duck and pull him in. 
(See Fig. 3.) Throw away the 
stick and roll up your cord and 
place it in your pocket and you 
are ready for as many ducks as 
you can kill. 



IMPROVING THE MINNOW 
CAN 

By p. E. Bradrick 

The fact that minnows soon 
smother when shut in the usual 
nearly air-tight minnow bucket, 
suggests several improvements. 
These are especially for the ang- 
ler who has to hike "way up the 
creek" for his minnows and then 




;''^^^'*^r^'t'tT^',v:-irt''«' W''. '' ^ '■'•' F.ffj 



in some place where you cannot 
get out to it, just look around 
and find a stick about 4 ft. long. 
Slip a loop over each end and 
draw it tight. Throw the stick 



hurry back lest they all die before 
he reaches the river. 

Take the cover of your bucket 
to the tinner and have him cut 
out the top, leaving only a strip 



8 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



around the edge as in Fig. 2. 
Use some quarter-inch mesh gal- 
vanized screen and have same 
soldered into the top in place of 
tin just removed. 

Make a tin cone or funnel (aa, 
Fig. 1). Have this riveted in 
place under the mesh, point up, 
with braces (b-b, Fig. 1). This 




cone prevents the water splash- 
ing out while one is walking. 
With the cover arranged in this 
way the water is churned around 
and freshened up at every step 
as you walk along. With the or- 
dinary cover one is inclined to 
step very easily in order not to 
splash all over. But with this 
cover the more the bucket is 
shaken up the better for the fish. 



DOCTORING THE LEADER 

By Arthur Burkman 

The ordinary snelled fly is none 
too easy to remove from the 
leader loop after it has been set^ 
tied into place by a few minutes 



flies in a hurry. Here is a kink 
that will save many a minute's 
fumbling: Just tie a small knot 
in the end of each of the loops on 
the leader. Hang the fly on this 
knotted loop the same as usual. 
Now, when you wish to remove 
the fly, take the knot you have tied 
between the thumb and finger of 
the right hand and loop on the 
fly snell between the thumb and 
finger of the left hand and pull 
them apart. You will be sur- 
prised to see how the little knot 
facilitates this. If desired you 
can also tie a similar knot in the 
loop of the fly snell, but this is 
not necessary. 



A FIRE JACK 

By G. A. Cole 

Here is a fire jack, convenient 
to handle, compact for carrying, 
and easy to make: The upright 
is made of %-'m. iron rod sharp- 
ened on one end so as to be easily 
stuck into the ground. It is 3 
feet long. The cross-arm, also 
3 feet long, is simply a ^-in. iron 
rod with a hook forged at one 
end. The block can be either of 
hardwood or metal. It is 3 in. 
square and has two holes bored 
through it at right angles to one 
another, to accommodate the two 




KNOT-^ 




of persistent casting. It is some- 
times pretty stubborn to bring 
away when you want to change 



rods. The holes are made 1-16 in. 
larger than the rod they are to 
take, and are bored to cross as 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



closely to one another as pos- 
sible. 

To set up, push the point of the 
upright into the ground and slip 
the block over it. Then insert the 
cross-arm in its socket and you 
are ready to hang the kettle. The 



Standard 5tt \Jp 



yr 




i I 
i I 

'I'Zl-J'.-.- 








Oi/at/ of 
BlocS 



cross-arm can be raised, lowered, 
lengthened, shortened or swung 
in any direction and the friction 
of the block will cause it to bind 
and hold wherever placed. This 
little device will save many a 
singed eyebrow or spilt pot of 
Java. 



THE SQUIRREL TAIL BAIT 

By W. H. Greene 

Here is a bait that has done 
good execution for me among the 
bass. 

Take a squirrel tail and cut it 
off about five inches long. Fasten 




'^~^>^f^%i-. 



two gang hooks in tandem on a 
double gut leader and lash them 
to the tail with good silk thread. 



The end of the tail should project 
about an inch behind the last gang. 
The lashings should be thoroughly 
made. 

Where desired, a shorter bait 
can be made in the same style by 
using only one gang instead of 
two. '' 



MAKE YOUR REEL SELF- 
STRIKING 

By George Morton 
The following kink can be used 
quite successfully when still fish- 
ing. It is especially good when 
the rod is not held in the hand or 
when the angler's attention is per- 
haps attracted elsewhere at the 
moment the fish bites : 

Fasten a rather stiff rubber 
band to the upper end of the rod 
grasp. It m.ay be lashed in place, 




stretched over a peg as in the 
diagram, or fastened in any other 
way you desire. Whittle a small 
bit of wood to the right length so 
that it will act as a prop between 
the reel handle and the reel seat 
when the forward end of the han- 
dle is brought just slightly below 
the parallel with the reel seat. 
Pass the line around back of this 
prop, stretch the rubber band from 
the rod grasp to the reel handle 
and the reel is locked. 
As soon as a fish takes the bait 



10 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



and straightens the line, he pulls 
out the small prop. The rubber 
band promptly jerks down the 
reel handle, causing the spool to 
wind in a few inches of line, just 
enough to set the hook. If the 
angler desires the fish to run with 
the bait for some distance before 
being snubbed (as when fishing 
with minnows, etc.), strip out the 
extra hne in advance and let it 
lie in loose coils just back of the 
first guide. 



the simple hitch shown in Fig. 2. 
This hook goes through the lips 
of the bait and your tandem is 
complete. Better than a regular 
tandem in some respects because 
it is so easily adjusted to the 
length of the minnow. 



AN IMPROVISED TANDEM 

By John Phillips 

Sometimes the bass insist on 
biting short on your minnow when 
you do not happen to have a reg- 
ular tandem hook handy. You 



GANGS CAN'T TWIST OUT 
By George A. Wiggan 

Last summer, after having lost 
several large pike and muskies, 
due to the tail hooks coming out, 
I inquired the cause from an old- 
timer. He told me that the mus- 
kies and likely pike as well, have 
a habit of rolling over during their 
struggles and in this way twist off 
the hook. He showed me a bait 
on which the tail gahg had been 




can't blame the fish for not want- 
ing to get their faces full of 
hooks, but here's a way to fool 
them just the same: 

Tie a 3.0 Aberdeen snelled hook 
on the end of your line and let 




this run back through the gills of 
the minnow. Then loop another 
of the same hooks onto the line a 
little farther up, looping on with 



twisted almost straight by a small 
muskie. 

I use baits having a single tail 
gang only. 

I took one of these and after 
removing the hook from the tail, 
put on a small swivel and then 
put back the hook. I tried this 
for several days and missed about 
a dozen strikes. I then saw that 
the swivel put the hook too far 
back to hook any but those that 
came from the rear. 

I cut the ring off one end of 
the swivel and also cut the eye off 
the screw eye that held the hook. 
The hole in the bottom of the 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



11 



swivel had to be enlarged to fit 
the screw shank, but I finally got a 
tight joint. After forcing this into 
the body of the swivel a little way 
I managed to flatten the bead out 
a little. Then a drop of solder 
made it fast. I tested it to thirty 




~''-~ OotfcJ Oat/lie ti<n/ttoU 
.^ '-•■"'"',/ A..f rutMi foinntHMt^ff ujiclcic 

pounds pull (five more than any 
of my fish lines will stand), and it 
showed no signs of coming loose. 
When the hooks had been put 
back on the swivel and the whole 
business fastened to the bait I 
tried it out again. This time I 
hooked six out of seven strikes in 
two days. Five of these were 
landed, the sixth shook loose. 
None of the hooks showed the 
least sign of being twisted. 



A HOOK THEY CAN'T 
SWALLOW 

By I. E. Catterton 

How many of you have had 
trouble in removing your hook 
from the mouth of a fish after 
you have caught him, simply be- 





cause he had swallowed the hook 
too deeply? Now if you will get 
a small piece of wire and twist 
it tightly around the shank of 



your hook, letting the ends pro- 
ject about an inch, you will have 
no such trouble. The wire pre- 
vents the fish from swallowing 
the hook. Do not place the 
wire too far down on the shank 
nor yet too far back. Use your 
own judgment in this and regir- 
late your distance according to 
the size and length of the hook 
you are using. 



A SIMPLE KNOT 

By J. C. BiGELOW 

I am seventy-three years old 

and started fishing with my father 

long before I can remember. 

Last summer I had a grandson 





four and a half years old out in 
a boat with me fishing. He had 
his own pole and caught a num- 
ber of good-sized fish. Maybe I 
didn't enjoy seeing him bait his 
own hook. Recently I became a 
reader of Outer's and have got- 
ten some bright ideas from the 
Kink column. 

Here is something I have never 
seen in print. It is a method of 
tying a line on a ringed hook so 
that it can be readily untied 
again. Simply tie with an or- 



12 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



dinary single bow knot. Bring 
the end of the knot through the 
loop and pull all down tight. To 
untie, it will be found very easy 
to withdraw the end from the 
loop and then a single pull opens 
everything up. 



KEEP YOUR HOPPER 
ALIVE 

By W. H. Greene 
Grasshoppers are frequently a 
good bait and a live hopper is 
better than a dead one. But if 
you hook them in the thorax 
they die almost immediately, and 
hooked in the abdomen they come 
off too easily. I find it pays to 




keep a spool of thread with me 
and when the fish will rise to 
nothing but hoppers I tie them on 
the hook with this. Just put a 
loop around the thorax, under 
the wings and ahead of the hind- 
legs. Run the hook through this 
loop under the hopper's body. 
Cast out and watch results as 
Mister Hopper kicks his protest. 



AN EMERGENCY FOOT 
REST . 

By G. a. C. Clarke 

On a recent fishing trip I found 
that my host's boat or punt had 
no footboard to brace my feet 
against while rowing, so I made 
one by cutting three sticks and 



nailed them as shown in the dia- 
gram. The ends A and B extend- 
ed to the stern of the boat, rest- 
ing on the floor; C is the brace 




for the feet. A and B can, of 
course, be cut any length to suit 
the reach of the rower's legs. 
This rigging is in no manner at- 
tached to the boat, so may be 
readily taken out in order to clean 
out the latter. 



IMPROVING TUBE TIPS 

By a. Manning, Jr. 

With the tube style of tip guide 
which is still found on some cast- 
ing rods, the line has a great 
tendency to cling to the rod when 



naXr 



^ 




it gets wet, interfering consider- 
ably with its free running qual- 
ities. This can be easily remedied 
with a small pair of pliers. Grasp 
the guide with the pliers at the 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



13 



point marked 1, Fig. A, and bend 
upward to an angle of approxi- 
mately 45 degrees. Then grasp at 
the point marked 2 and bend the 
extreme tip back into parallel with 
the rest of the rod. Fig. B shows 
the completed job. With this ar- 
rangement the line is lifted well 
above the rod so that it cannot 
cling and cause trouble. 



A HINGE FIRE RACK 

By Geo. K. Parker 

The accompanying simple kink 
is a great help on a camping trip 
of any kind. It is easy to carry 
and will save many a turned-over 
coffee pot or frying pan. You 
take three 8-inch strap hinges and 




Set up 



just put a stove bolt through the 
middle hole and you've got the 
dandiest little fire rack ever made. 
When not in use it can be folded 
and carried in coat or grip. 



THE NATURAL POTHOOK 

By F. H. Bohm 

Trim a green limb, as long as 
desired, with the exception of a 
piece of one branch left near the 
butt to form a hook. Then cut^a 
deep notch near the other end of 
the stick, hang the bail of your 








u: 



!■( 



kettle in the notch and hook the 
other end of the stick over your 
crane. You will find this a first- 
rate pothook, saving the carrying 
of metal hooks or chains. This 
Kink is probably already known 
to a good many old-timers, but 
lots of campers do not seem to 
have heard of it. 



THE PICKEREL THROAT 
BAIT 

By Glenn Prucia 

After the "big ones" get wise 
through being much fished, they 
will only hit a spoon or artificial 
bait once and then refuse to strike 
a second time as they are on to the 
deception. Sometimes you will 
troll for hours with only a little 
pound and a half "snake" to show 
for your pains. Don't toss the lit- 



14 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



tie fellow overboard in disgust. 
He will help you to get bigger 



game. 



With your pocket knife cut out 
the V of tough skin directly under 




5f lon Dcsignaltiv 



5ha|ie 
b\ Chunk 




0*v iKf 



his tongue and hang this on your 
spoon. The next big fellow that 
strikes will find the bait soft and 
to his liking, and if he fails to get 
hooked the first time he will not 
hesitate to strike again. Try it 
out and see. 



DRIVING STAKES 

By Arthur W. Stevens 

All of us who have ever tried to 
drive a forked stake into the 
ground in building a rack, crane 

I 
I 




or the like, have found it difficult 
to do without splitting the fork. 
If instead of a fork a straight 
piece with a prong on one side is 



used, it will serve the purpose just 
as well and be much easier to 
drive. The sketch will make this 
clear. 

Also if the top of the stake is 
carved with a jackknife or sharp 
ax before driving, it is not nearly 
so apt to split. This applies as 
well to tent stakes or any other 
stake that is to be driven. 



THE 



SAFEGUARDING 
REEL 

By Henry Hill 

Nearly every caster has had 
trouble at one time or another 
with a reel band that will not 
stay in place. The following Kink 
will effectually put an end to this 
difficulty. 




Take a heavy elastic band, or 
better still, a three-eighths inch 
strip cut from a heavy automo- 
bile inner tube. Place one end 
ahead of the fixed reel band as in 
diagram No. 1. Bring the other 
end diagonally around the reel 
seat and lash both ends as shown 
in diagram No. 2. In putting 
the reel on the rod, slip the reel 
seat under the crossed elastics 
from the direction of the fixed 
reel seat. Then seat reel as us- 
ual. Elastic should be of such a 
length and weight that it is very 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



15 



tight when reel is in place. Dia- 
gram No. 3 shows how it looks. 

For heavy rods elastic may be 
made as wide as five-eighths or 




three-quarters of an inch. If pre- 
ferred, a small stud can be sol- 
dered to the movable reel band 
and the elastic slipped over same 
as in diagram No. 4. 

A variation of the same Kink is 
to fasten a small German silver 




No. 4 



or brass hook ahead of the fixed 
band on the reel seat. Cut a piece 
of heavy elastic about three-quar- 
ters by two inches. Round the 
corners off and punch a three- 
eighths-inch hole a half-inch from 



No.5 





one end and a one-eighth-inch hole 
near the other as in diagram No. 
5. A round punch should be used 
for the holes or they will be 



likely to tear. Stretch the large 
hole over the reel plate and seat 
the reel on the rod. Then stretch 
the small hole over the hook as in 
diagram No. 6. Either one of 
these methods will hold the reel 
firmly in place. ^ 



A TEMPORARY MINNOW 

NET 

By H. a. Peters 

Were you ever without a min- 
now net, for some reason or 
other, while on a fishing trip, when 




one could not procure one for 
many miles ; and not only that, but 
you found that the "big ones" just 
wouldn't bite on anything else but 
a minnow? If you have never 
been in that predicament you are 
indeed more fortunate than I, for 
such were the conditions my 
camping party was in last summer 
up in Wisconsin. 

We had a very nice net when 
we started out, but the third day 
in camp the net, somehow or 



16 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



other, got too near the fire and 
almost all the netting burned off. 
Of course, it was not anyone's 
fault, but that did not matter. We 



A 


K 


\\ 


^ 


A 


^ 


X 




X 


X 

A 


^ 


X, 


K 


A 







Fio.3 




had to have a net. We each had 
a landing net, but we found it 
impossible to catch minnows with 
them because of their size. After 
looking over my outfit I found a 



ring and pole to a tree at a con- 
venient height. Then I cut a num- 
ber of pieces of twine about three 
feet long and fastened them to the 
ring as in Fig. 1. Starting at A, 
Fig. 2, I took one string from each 
adjacent pair and tied a simple 
double knot in them. After fin- 
ishing the first row I made the 
second, third, etc., as in Fig. 2. 
After making about seven rows I 
decided to taper the net down. 
This was done by making the 
mesh smaller (that is, tying the 
cords closer together) ; also by 
cutting off, say six strings, from 
six pairs, at equal distances apart 
in the same row, as at A, Fig. 3. 
The knotting was done the same 
as before until a single line was 
reached. Then by taking one 
string each side of the single one, 
I tied the knot so that it came 
even with the rest in the same 
vertical row. Then I tied a sec- 




-^y i> > >^.^-^ 



Fig.5 



& Hooks 



ball of twine and I decided to try 
to make a net. I did this as 
follows : 

After cutting off all the net that 
remained on the ring, I fastened 



ond knot with the single line and 
one of the other two and cut off 
the single line short as at B, Fig. 
4. Continuing in this manner, cut- 
ting six pairs from every horizon- 
tal row, I soon had the diameter 
of the hole in the bottom about 
eight inches. Then removing the 
net part from my landing net, I 
fastened it to the bottom of the 
minnow net by means of small 
hooks and my net was complete as 
in Fig. 5. 

It took quite a time, but we 
were certainly rewarded for our 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



17 



work. Of course, it required pa- 
tience but where is there a good 
fisherman who lacks that? The 
author used this net the entire 
summer, but has not seen it fail 
yet. So, brother, if ever placed as 
I was, just remember this Kink 
and you will catch your minnows. 



Take a number of hooks of the 
stiff steel variety and heat the 
eyes until they can be bent with 
pliers. Then hook them into 



A SPOON FLOAT 

By Geo. Raveling 

The ordinary bait-caster fre- 
quently has trouble when trying 
to cast a spoon. Either the spoon 
is so light that he cannot send it 
out very far, or else he gets a 
backlash and his spoon sinks to 
the bottom and snags. Here is 
a kink that will overcome both of 
these difficulties : 

Take a piece of softwood and 
taper both ends as shown in the 
diagram. Coat with white en- 
amel paint and fasten a 
single stout hook on one 




each other in tandem, turning one 
hook one way and the next the 
opposite. Then close the eyes 
until they will not come off over 
the barb. Two feet or more of 
this string of hooks makes a good 
landing tool when attached to 
"any old stick" 
with a small 



aoOj^BSL 




side as shown. 

Fasten this float 
on your line by a couple of slip- 
knots, about two feet ahead of the 
spoon. 



weight wired to 
the last hook. 
Let the size of the hooks be gov- 
erned by the size of the fish to 
be caught. 



A FLEXIBLE GAFF 

By V. F. Malone 
The following kink may be of 
some value to the week-end fish- 
erman who wishes to diminish 
the contents of his tackle box 
and go without a net or gaff: 



DEEP WATER TROLLER 

By Fred R. Semenetz 

Here is a Kink that's as old as 
the hills. Maybe you have seen 
or used it yourself in your time, 
but it's good enough to report any- 
how on the chance that some 
brother may not be familiar with 
it. I used it every year for from 
three to five weeks out at the 



18 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



Heads (Golden Gate) trolling for 
salmon. Used light tackle and 
No. 21 Cutty Hunk line. Believe 
me ! you can have all the fun you 




XD'B 



Vtv* 



want with salmon that weigh from 
8 to 40 pounds. I have also used 
the "Deep Water Troller" on lakes 
where big pickerel and big-mouth 



bass are caught on those days 
when the fish run deep. 

The troller does away with the 
heavy sinker while fighting the 
fish. You can imagine the sinker 
you would have to use to reach a 
depth of 20 feet, using light tackle. 

Take a piece of No. 9 brass 
wire 6 inches long. Slip a gener- 
ous sized washer over each end 
and then form an eye at each end. 
This wire is labeled "D" in the 
diagram. A swivel should, be at- 
tached to each of these eyes 
(C-C) and the lower swivel cast 
directly into a good generous lead 
sinker shaped much like a sash- 
weight, but much smaller, of 
course. 

The rudder piece (A) is made 
out of a piece of No. 21 sheet 
brass, 2 inches long and 1 inch 
wide. A half inch at one end is 
bent so as to form a free work- 
ing hinge around the rod D. The 
other end is rounded and a quar- 
ter-inch hole pierced through it. 



'''^-*tC:!)u;.<^-\iV'^^^*^ '^^^'^ . 




/ 



o-^CS^ 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



19 



Next comes the spring B. This 
is made out of No. 18 spring brass 
wire and bent as shown. The 
forks should be given enough ten- 
sion so that when they are run 
through the hole in A it will take 
a pull about equal to that made 
by the strike of a three-pound 
fish, in order to dislodge them. 

In using this device the fish line 
is run from the tip of the rod 
through the middle or inside coil 
of the spring B, which is then 
slipped into the rudder plate. The 
troller (which is suspended on 
any piece of heavy hand line) is 
lowered to the depth at which you 
want the bait to travel. The boat 
is then started and line paid out 
from the reel until the bait is as 
far astern as desired. 

When the fish strikes the spring 
B pulls out of the rudder plate at 
once and soon runs down the line 
until it is stopped by the hook. 
You are therefore fighting your 
fish unhampered by any heavy 
sinkers on the line. This leads to 
a great deal better sport, as it en- 
ables one to troll with lighter 
tackle than otherwise. 



total materials needed for the 
change cost me only sixteen cents, 
I think this kink worthy of being 
passed along. 



FOR CARRYING CREEL OR 
CANTEEN 

By W. Her wig 

Being tired of the way my can- 
teen swung and pounded when 
hung from a long shoulder strap, 
I determined to try carrjdng it at 
my belt. The experiment was 
highly satisfactory, and, as the 




All that is needed is a D ring, 
a harness snap, an ordinary book 
strap and a nickel's worth of cop- 
per rivets. The diagram will show 
how these are put together. Two 
pieces of the strap are riveted to 
the canteen and the D ring. The 
third piece, with the buckle left on 
it, forms a loop to slip over the 
belt and through the harness strap. 



20 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



The snap enables one to unsling 
the canteen in a jiffy. 

Just try this combination on 
your own canteen or creel. To my 
way of thinking it is far more 
comfortable than the shoulder 
strap, and if you don't like it there 
is nothing wasted but a few cents' 
worth of materials, since the can- 
teen or creel are not injured. But 
you will like it, I know. 



LINE-DRYING DEVICE 

By Charles D. Leonard 

An excellent device for drying 
lines may be made from one of 
the heads of an old barrel. I at- 
tach mine to the sunny side of a 
•woodshed, leaving it outdoors 
throughout the summer; but it 
could be adapted easily for in- 
door use. The expense of mak- 
ing it is practically nothing. 

Procure a barrel head and cleat 
it across center to prevent split- 



holes, giving each hole a slight 
slant toward the outside of the 
barrel head. " In each hole insert 
a meat skewer, which will prob- 
ably be given you at the market. 
Drive the skewer entirely through 
head, otherwise the swelling of 
the wood in a rain will force 
skewer out. Cut off pointed ends 
of skewers flush with back of bar- 
rel head. 

Attach head to casing at back 
of house, or other convenient 
place, by setting screw in hole, 
using washer on each side of head 
to insure easy turning. 

A foot or more to right set 
screw eye in side of building 
large enough to take ferrule on 
butt joint of rod. and a screw 
hook spaced far enough back to 
hold grip of rod. I use a joint 
from a discarded rod, but no 
harm would be done to a good 
one if the hook were padded with 
felt or cloth. 




Barrel 
Head 

=^ -Cleat 



ting. Cleat should be on side to 
be attached to building. Bore 
hole through center to take screw, 
spoke or bolt upon which head is 
to turn. Draw a circle around 
head about two inches inside the 
circumference. At equal distances 
on this circle bore eight small 



Attach reel to reel-seat in ordi- 
nary manner, thread line through 
first guide, pass it outside screw 
eye, tie loosely to one of skew- 
ers and start turning barrel head. 
One hundred yards can be trans- 
ferred to head in a very short 
time. After drying, tEi:e rod from 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



21 



hooks, without disengaging the 
reel, and spool the line as if re- 
trieving a bait. If more than one 
line needs to be dried, after run- 
ning first line on to the drier, de- 
tach from spindle of reel, tie sec- 
ond line to end of first and keep 
on turning. 

Care should be taken to attach 
rod hangers to right of barrel 




head, as otherwise the side of the 
building will interfere with the 
crank of the reel. 



A GOOD FLARE 

By Thurman R. Graham 

Being in need of a good flare 
or torch for spearing eels by, I 
made a very successful one out 
of a gallon oil can and a few feet 
of scrap pipe. 

I bored a hole in the bottom of 
the oil can and soldered over it 
the bottom of an old >>^-inch 
grease cup. Into this I screwed 
an ell, to which was joined a piece 
of H-inch pipe 6 or 7 inches long. 
Next was a valve. Then a piece 
of ^-inch pipe 10 inches long. 
Then another ell and a curl from 
on old steam gauge. 



For a burner I took a piece of 
1^-inch pipe, 7 inches long. In 
the center of this I tapped a hole 
for the ^-inch pipe. Then punched 
or drilled about 75 other small 
holes in the same side of the pipe 




Wi 







as tapped for the ^-inch. Both 
ends of the burner were then 
plugged. A pad for the shoulder 
and a handle completed the outfit. 
In operation, I fill the can with 
kerosene and turn the valve 
enough to fill the curl with oil. 
Then I heat the curl by burning 
a bit of oily rag under it. The 
pipe soon becomes hot enough to 
turn the kerosene inside of it to 
gas. It then burns freely at the 
burner and can be regulated with 
the valve exactly like any other 
gas flame. 



FREEING THE LINE 

By Clarence Graham 

While casting for trout with a 
spinner, my hook got caught on 
the bottom. The stream was too 
deep and swift to wade and as 
it was my last spinner I was up 
against it for a while. After try- 
ing all sorts of ways to get it 



22 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



loose, I finally picked up a piece 
of wood about three feet long 
and two inches wide. To this I 
tied a piece of string about one- 
third of the way from one end. 
I then made a loop in the string 
which would slide easily along 




* oX«vkAa Vooto 



my line and set the stick adrift. 
The current carried it down ally- 
ing. I held a tight line and the 
stick went right over the spot 
where my hook was and danced 
aroimd. In a moment the hook 
came free. This kink usually 
works very nicely and has saved 
several spinners for me since. 



THE PALOUSER 

By a. W. Stevens 

The palouser is a very simple 
and efficient candle lantern well 
known to the miner and woods- 
man. It may be made of any 
good-sized tin can, but a lard pail, 
about 5 lb. size, works best. 

Select a point in the side of the 
pail a little more than half way 
down and directly under one of 
the ears that holds the bail. Cut 
a slit whose length is a little 
greater than the diameter of a 
candle. Then cut another across 
it at right angles. This forms 
four points which may be bent in- 
ward. A candle thrust through 
the hole is prevented by these 



points from slipping out, and it 
may be pushed farther in as it 
burns off. 

Loosen the bail from the side 
on which the hole has been 
punched. Squeeze the ends a lit- 
tle closer together and hook the 
loose end under the flange in the 
bottom of the pail. This forms 
a handle by which the pail may be 
carried on its side — and the lan- 
tern is complete. 

The bottom of the pail forms 
a reflector and makes it a real 
searchlight. Although the whole 
front is open, it will burn in al- 
most any wind because there is 
no other opening to carry the 
draft past the flame. 

As to the spelling of the name, 
I am not sure, as I have never 




palouser 

seen it in print. The great agri- 
cultural region of the state of 
Washington is known as the Pal- 
ouse (pronounced paloos), and in 
the Northwest everything of a 
rural nature is supposed to have 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



23 



come from the Palouse region. It 
is, therefore, not improbable that 
the name originated there. 



A SIMPLE ROD HOLDER 

By Wm. Her wig 

Desiring a rod holder for troll- 
ing, still-fishing and the like, I 
set about to make one. In a 
plumbing shop I found a piece of 
tubing that just slipped easily over 
the butt of my rod. This I pur- 
chased for the enormous cost of 
five cents. Next I cut off the tube 
to about seven inches in length 
and proceeded to pinch or flat- 
ten one end with a few 
blows from a hammer. In 
this flattened end I bored a hole 



-ni- 



Tube 





large enough to accommodate an 
ordinary thumb screw. Now all I 
have to do is to screw my bit of 
tube tight to the edge of the boat 
or pier, stick in my rod and I am 
all set. Where it is not desired to 



screw the tube tight, a bit of 
string may be run through the 
screw hole in the tube and tied to 
the boat. I find it best to have 
the tubing of such a diameter as 
to allow the rod handle a little 
play. 



A HOME-MADE CAMP 
STOVE 

By Chas. S. Youngs 

I have noticed in your book, as 
well as in several others, articles 
upon camping outfits, and reading 
them brought to mind a stove 




which I have used on several oc- 
casions and which proved very 
satisfactory in every way. I am 
enclosing a rough drawing to illus- 
trate same. 

The stove is very easily made 
and not very expensive. Get a 
sheet of Russia iron from a tin- 
ner and have two edges turn 
down, as shown in Fig. I, the size 
to be governed by any box or 
chest which is carried on the 
trip, as the iron can be placed on 
the top or bottom of the box or 
chest and strapped on out of the 
way. A fire built under the iron 



24 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



when set on the ground will be 
found to prove very satisfactory. 
If a more elaborate stove is de- 
sired it might be fashioned after 
Fig. II, with both ends closed by 
riveting a strip of the same ma- 
terial in place and cutting a door 




with draft in one end. A stove 
pipe made of a piece of small 
eaves trough may also be inserted 
through a hole in the top and 
fastened from the inside with the 
two flanges or cleats fastened to 
the underside of the top. 



MARKING A ROD 

By Julius Frank 

A very fine casting-rod was 
found and could not be returned 
to the owner because the finder 
knew no way to locate him. This 



I 

t 



T'ft' 



led me to mark my rods in a very 
simple and effective manner. Fol- 
lowing is my Kink : 

Just above the reel-seat in the 
first space between silk windings 



on the rod I scraped the varnish 
and bared the wood. 

I took a letter head that had 
my name and town address printed 
on it, and with a very fine grained 
sandpaper I sandpapered the back 
of the paper until the place over 
the name was very thin. Then 
with a very sharp knife I cut 
name from the paper. 

Having paper and rod thus pre- 
pared, I spread a very thin coating 
of varnish (I used Valspar) on 
the rod in the place previously 
scraped; I placed the name in this 
space and spread a thick coating 
of varnish over all. 

When the varnish was com- 
pletely dry I found that the paper 
was entirely transparent and the 
name appeared as if printed on 
the rod. 

Thus you see that I have plainly, 
inexpensively and permanently 
marked my rods. 



A CAMP KNIFE 
By John B. Cowing 
The accompanying diagram 
shows a camp knife to be made 
from a piece of broken handsaw 
blade or from a carpenter's steel 
scraper blade, with a sole leather 




JuiluS f«ANK 



handle riveted on, and the handle 
sandpapered and varnished with 
good rod or spar varnish. This 
makes a light but useful knife, 
good for general use, but not in- 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



25 



tended for splitting bones or wood. 
The knife can be cut from a 
piece of tempered steel with cold 
chisel and file and after riveting 
on the handle, the knife can be 



trial was with aluminum paint, 
which wore ofif very quickly. Then 
we tried silver leaf with sizing 
and aluminum color in size, with 
almost similar results. 




k Jf- 

ground and finished as desired 
without any additional tempering, 
as it is not necessary to draw the 
temper to cut the knife to shape. 
A grindstone, with water, should 
be used to finish the blade to 
avoid drawing the original tem- 
per. 



~sjr 



BRIGHTENING THE 
PHANTOM 

By H. E. Neumann 

About five miles above our city 
the Rock River is rather shallow 
with a gravelly bottom. It is 
well stocked at this point with 
small-mouth black bass, but the 
carp have also found their way 
here and in consequence the water 
is not as clear as it was in for- 
mer years. This fact necessitates 
the use of a bright bait when 
casting. 

One of the most successful 
baits in use here is a Phantom 
Minnow, but the anglers soon 
found that the color on the Phan- 
tom did not last very long and 
the problem has been to find a 
way of refinishing them. Our first 



Finally I hit upon the idea of 
varnishing the minnow with a 
good spar varnish and after about 
half an hour, when the varnish 
had become tacky, covering it 
with a piece of tinfoil cut to size. 
This is brighter than the original 
minnow and does not come off. 
It also adds a slight weight, 
which is a desirable feature with 
this bait and, best of all, it gets 
the bass. 



INDEXING KINKS 

By F. C. Hajek 

Ever since I subscribed to 
Outer's Book I have been inter- 
ested in the Kinks it contains each 





y)i.Jabki\k. 



^^/SdZisiP' 









'/ 




26 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



month. In order to keep a line 
on them I indexed a blank note 
book alphabetically and entered 
them as shown in the diagram. 
If I want information on a cer- 
tain Kink I pick up my index book 
and in a second I know in what 
issue to find it. 



FISHING FROM THE BANK 

By S. C. Vanier 

Nearly everyone who fishes 

from the bank of a river or creek 

has tried the expedient of sticking 

the butt of his pole into a hole in 





y 




the ground so he would not have 
to hold it in his hands. Then, 
every time you pick up the pole 
to see whether you have a bite, 
the hole crumbles and you have 
to dig a new one. A couple of 
forked sticks, which you can cut 



on the spot, will remedy this diffi- 
culty and give you a much better 
pole holder besides. 

Cut a fork-shaped prong about 
two feet long and rest your pole 
across it. To keep the butt from 
tilting up, cut another fork with 
one short and one long arm, like 
a figure "7," and hook this over 
the butt of the rod to keep it 
down. You can now remove your 
pole and put it back again as 
often as you want. Hide the 
forks in the bushes near your fa- 
vorite fishing hole and they will 
always be ready for you. 



QUICK COLORS FOR 
BAITS 

By Frank C. Hajek 

Lately, when trying out home- 
made plugs, I have colored them 
with lumber crayon instead of en- 
ameling them. This looks as good 
as the enamel and eliminates the 
trouble of enameling the bait in 
case it proves worthless. This 
crayon resists water and lasts 
quite a while. It is cheap and 
can be purchased at any stationery 
store. I carry two pieces in my 
tackle box, one red and one yel- 
low. 



A HANDY CAN-HANDLE 
KINK 

By W. a. Stowe 

When a sportsman starts out on 
a trip, be it long or short, he tries 
to keep down weight and bulk of 
his outfit to as little as possible, 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



27 



and yet leave out nothing that will 
be necessary to his comfort or 
pleasure. 

But when the time comes to 
pack up his duffle for the return 
trip, the enthusiasm that attended 
the start is lacking. Then he 
would like to just walk away and 
leave most of his stuff lie where 
he got through with it. 

I have found a little Kink that 
costs nothing and helps a little to- 
ward this desirabe end. 

Many sorts of provisions and 
groceries are now packed in fric- 
tion top tin cans of various sizes, 
syrups and cooking fats, for in- 
stance. 

Save three or four of these of 
the sizes you will need most, and 
when you take a camping or 
canoe trip leave your stew kettle, 
coffee pot and such utensils at 
home and take these cans instead. 

The Kink consists of having two 
or three wire bails or handles for 
making use of these cans. You 
can make these bails in a few min- 
utes with a small pair of pliers, 
and they will last for years. Any 
wire that has a little springiness 
is all right; piano wire or old bi- 
cycle spokes are perhaps the best. 
Make three or four different sizes, 
but of such size that they will go 
down in the can they are in- 
tended for so that the cover can 
be put on. Then you can fill your 
cans with milk or soup or coffee, 
for instance, push the bail down 
into the can, put on your friction 
cover and you can safely pack 
those cans of liquids anywhere or 



let them roll about in the bottom 
of your canoe. When you want 
your hot stuff you pry off the 
cover, pull up the bail and hang 
the can over the fire. The spring 




of the wire holds the bail up and 
the ends against the sides of the 
can where the eyes in the ends of 
the wire catch under the rim of 
the can. The bail automatically 
spreads to diametrically opposed 



28 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



points, therefore the can will al- 
ways hang plumb from it. When 
your trip is over you keep the 
bails and can the cans. The cut 
explains the device sufficiently. 



WATCH SPRING WEED 
GUARDS 

By H. J. Loud 

Broken pieces of mainspring, 
which can be obtained from any 
watch repairer, make excellent 
material for constructing weed- 
guards. A turn or two of fine 
wire and a drop of solder fasten 
the guard to the hook shank and 
it may be bent to any shape de- 
sired. 




I have found the shape shown 
in the diagram to be a most ef- 
fective one. 



AN ANTPROOF BREAD 
BOX 

By Frank E. Wilder 

One of the most disagreeable 
experiences of camp life is to 
come home after a long fish or 
hunt, to the little log cabin for a 
good supper and find that red ants 
or cockroaches have beaten you tio 
it by several hours. What's more, 
the women cannot be persuaded to 
join you on a few days' fish or 
hunt if they are "obliged to put 
up with the nasty insects." You 
say to yourself, "There is no use 
trying to keep food from hungry 



red ants ; what more can a man 
do than to put his food into a 
good bread box?" 




PAPER 



v/^//Ammm^ . 



Here is what he can do to pre- 
vent those unpleasant raids on his 
food supply which keep his wife 
from being with him : Buy five 
cents' worth of fly paper. Take a 
sheet and cut it lengthwise in 
strips. Cover the back of one 
strip with paste (a mixture of 
flour and water can be used) and 
place it horizontally on the side 
of your food container, as in the 
diagram. Continue to paste on the 
strips in the same manner until 
you have completely encircled 
your container with fly paper. 
Now no bug that walks can get 
into your bread box and spoil that 
big meal you and your wife are 
going to have after a day in the 
open. 



A SIMPLE HOOK RE- 
MOVER 

By J. H. Robinson 

Our friend, the Horned Pout, 
has a very bad habit of com- 
pletely swallowing the hook. And 

4^k 




KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



29 



sometimes it is your last hook at 
that and you haven't even a 
pocket knife handy. Here's a sim- 
ple way to recover your property. 
Select a stick, round preferred, 
about half an inch thick and 7 or 
8 in. long. Holding the fish in the 
left hand, pass the stick down into 
the gullet and beyond the hook. 
Draw the line up taut and hold it 
against the stick with the right 
hand at the point marked X in 
diagram. Let go of the fish with 
the left hand and give him a ro- 
tary twirl around the stick. You 
will be surprised to see how easily 
the hook becomes loose and with- 
out being bent or broken. 



A GOOD HOOK TIE 

By Martin Schuldt 

The diagrams show a simple 
hitch for putting a hook on the 
end of a line. This hitch is quite 






safe, for the harder the pull upon 
it the tighter it holds. Yet it can 
be unfastened in a moment. 



Nearly all fly fishermen use this 
same hitch for tying their leaders 
to their line, but comparatively 
few anglers seem to have caught 
the idea that it is equally good for 
the purpose suggested herewith. 



A KNOCKED-DOWN FIRE 
GRATE 

By F, L. McAleavey 

The accompanying diagram 
shows a simple grate that has 
proven its right to recognition 



2 fill l^'t^ 'f - dearth /engtA 
I ° ~ 






^/"' It'' h 

I 



ZJ 



4tf// fenQth of fonger fi<.i 



13 H n^ts 







among those who cook their meals 
in the open. 

The grate proper consists of 
four bars, two long ones for side 
pieces and two short ones for end 
pieces. These bars may be made 
any length desired, but if the short 
bars are made half the length of 
the long ones they will pack es- 
pecially well, as shown in the dia- 
gram. The bars are made from 
^ inch by V^ inch iron, and near 
each end are bored holes that will 
readily accommodate a ^-inch 
iron rod. 

The legs are simply ^^^-inch iron 
rods, 14 inches long, pointed at one 
end and threaded at the other, so 



30 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



as to allow an ordinary nut to be 
screwed down on them for about 
half an inch. 

The diagrams will show how the 
grate is set up and also how 
compactly it may be strapped for 
carrying. This grate is light, 
strong and inexpensive to build. 



THE EMERGENCY KIT 

By Arthur W. Stevens 

Last spring when Outer's Book 
offered the Standard Tackle Box 
as an inducement for the renewal 
of subscriptions, I immediately 
decided that I wanted one. My 
subscription had not expired, and 
I didn't need any inducement to 
renew when I did. Also, I must 
confess, I am not much of a fish- 
erman, so you might be interested 
in knowing the use to which the 
box was put. 

My work of surveying keeps 
me, sometimes, several months out 
of reach of a doctor, and it be- 
hooves one in such a position to 
equip himself with some sort of 
an emergency medical and surgi- 
cal outfit. None of the prepared 
outfits on the market appealed to 
me as the right thing; but the 
tackle box, with its numerous 
compartments, seemed to offer a 
possibility of making up an outfit 
to suit my own needs*. It has 
proved so successful that others 
might wish to profit by my experi- 
ence. 

The contents of the box are as 
follows : 

Two-inch gauze bandage. 

Small roll of absorbent cotton. 



Adhesive tape. 

Phial of iodine in small box to 
prevent breakage; used as anti- 
septic. 

Potassium permanganate crys- 
tals, for rattlesnake bites and an- 
tiseptic. 

Compound cathartic pills. 

Cascarets. 

Potassium chlorate tablets, for 
sore throat. 

Carbolated vaseline, best salve 
for cracked lips. 

Three-grain quinine capsules. 

Silver tweezers. 

Short-handled manicure scis- 
sors. The curved shape of these 
scissors gives them an advantage 
over ordinary surgical scissors in 
cutting away loose skin and such 
minor surgical operations as one 
will ordinarily be called upon to 
perform. 

The large compartment in the 
upper part of the box contains : 

One package of picric gauze, 
for burns. 

Two U. S. army first-aid pack- 
ets. 

This list is given merely as a 
suggestion. The really practical 
part of it is that the contents may 
be made up to suit individual 
needs. 

I might add that just a few sim- 
ple home remedies that we all 
know how to use are all I have 
ever found use for in the moun- 
tains. The more complicated out- 
fits recommended by medical and 
surgical men are all right for the 
skilled man; but we, in our ignor- 
ance, are apt to get our wires 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



31 



crossed and do the wrong thing; 
therefore, I feel safer without 
them. 

For a reference book, the First 
Aid Text Book, published by the 
American Red Cross, Washing- 
ton, D. C, is about as good as can 
be obtained. 



A HOME-MADE FOLDING 
NET 

By L. W. Martin 

A good deal of my angling 
equipment is home-made or home- 
improved. So when I saw in a 
sporting goods catalogue a land- 
ing net with a short folding 
handle which looked desir- 
able to me. I set 
about to build one 
with fairly 
good results. 



planed down to the desired weight 
and width with a spokeshave 
solved the mystery of the hoop. 
For the throat piece another 
block of the 5^-inch maple was 
used (C) with a narrow strip of 
the same screwed on either side 
(c'-c') to form a bed or socket for 
the end of the handle to rest in. 
The handle was attached to the 
throat block by a small hinge, 
which allowed it to swing from 
the center of the hoop to the bed 
where it fit quite snugly. 

Locking the handle in the open 
position was the next difficulty. 




iy<. ■^• 



A piece of ^-inch hard maple, 
planed on both sides and shaped 
as in the diagram (A) made an 
excellent handle. For the sake of 
lightness and looks, I even cut a 
couple of mortises out of it (b-b). 
A piece of flour-barrel hoop, 



This was finally met by forming 
an L-shaped trigger of spring 
brass, which was fastened to the 
under side of the handle with a 
couple of small screws. A small 
hole in the trigger fitted over a 
stud (D) in the rear of the throat 



32 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



block. The stud was made from 
another small screw with the head 
filed off. The trigger was left 
long enough so that it can readily 
be released from the stud by the 
index finger. When locked in 
place it is almost entirely free 
from strain. 

A good coat of varnish com- 
pleted the job. The net bag was 
not a difficult thing to make. 



FOR TROLLY FISHERMEN 

By John Connel 

Fishing with the trolly line is 
not especially a fine art, but once 
in a while I like to practice it, even 
when up among the bass and 
pickerel of the northern lakes. It 
is a relief to just loaf for a day 
and go after pan fish by a lazy 
man's methods. 

Now, my little Kink is right 
here : Most anglers use gut 



hooks, fastened to the trolly by 
a short bit of line. About a half 
inch from each hook I place a 
single small split shot sinker. This 
is just enough to keep the hooks 
from swinging and tangling with 
one another or with the trolly 
line. After that, just bait your 
hooks and "let her go." Tie the 
end of your line to the little 
dingle bell and lie back and loaf, 
waiting for the tiny alarm to tell 
you when there is "something 
doing." 




WHEN THE STREAM GOT 
ROILY 

By Wilford R. Lutz 

I was talking to an angler this 
morning who read me a kink that 
he had some experience with in 
Maine. It was a day when the 
fish would not bite. He had tried 
everything in the line of flies 
from a Black Gnat to a Red 
Dragon, without much success. 
He was whipping a stream below 
some gentle rapids, when he ac- 
cidentally caught sight of the 
finest school of 
trout that fisher- 



snelled hooks on their trolly 
line. I have found that the 
snells have a great habit of twist- 
ing themselves around the line, 
especially if there is the least bit 
of wave action in the water. So, 
instead of snells, I use plain 



man ever saw. He tried every- 
thing in the profession, but they 
would not bite. 

Just at that time some cattle 
crossed the stream a little above 
him and roiled the water. He saw 
the roily water coming and 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



33 



thought the "stuff was off." But 
exactly the opposite happened. 

As soon as the muddy water 
struck that pool, those trout 
seemed to have suddenly gone 
crazy. He changed from flies to 
a worm and in less time than it 
takes to tell he had landed six out 
of that school of beauties, from 
a half pound to one and a half 
pounds. He said that it was not 
very sportsmanlike, but he was 
out of meat. 



A FISHERMAN'S WAR 
BELT 

By V. L. McKiNLEY 

I often thought about a way to 
carry a light but complete equip- 
ment for a day's fishing together 



miscellany. Not very often do I 
carry a rod. Most of my fishing 
is on streams where I cut a pole 
on the spot, so my equipment is 
rather simple. 

No. 2 is a light sheath knife, 
suitable for scaling fish, making 
shavings for the fire and handy 
for many purposes. No. 3 is a 
flat bag containing the culinary 
part of the outfit. If you are very 
swell, you may carry in it a 7-in. 
frying pan with a folding handle. 
As for me, I cut off the handle of 
an ordinary sheet steel skillet and 
use the pliers to grip it with. The 
bag is made of heavy water- 
proofed muslin with a drawstring 
on the top and belt loops on the 
back. Along with the pan I carry 




with the materials for a warm 
noon lunch, the whole to present 
a minimum of weight and bother 
in handling. The war belt Kink 
shown in the diagram solved the 
problem for me. 

It will be noticed that there are 
five articles on this belt. No. 1 
is my notion case. This is a small 
tin box with hinged cover and a 
couple of belt loops riveted on the 
back. Any small tin box will an- 
swer the purpose or a small car- 
tridge pouch will do very nicely. 
In this box I keep my line, hooks, 
sinkers, a small pair of pliers, a 
waterproof match case and other 



in this bag a small tin can, a 
couple of slices of bacon and a 
day's supply of ground coffee, su- 
gar and mixed salt and pepper. 
The three latter are stowed away 
in old Durham tobacco sacks that 
have been previously well boiled 
so they will not flavor the food. 
About four slices of buttered 
bread are also added. The tin 
can holds a good big cupful of 
water and in it I boil my coffee, 
again using the pliers as a handle. 
After lunch I use sand or ashes 



34 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



from the fire, together with hot 
water to clean the grease from the 
frA'ing pan. 

No. 4 is a light belt axe. It is 
useful in cutting through the 
brush to get at those likely look- 
ing holes and is worth its weight 
in gold when building a hasty fire 
after an unexpected ducking. 

No. 5 is a pet crotchet of my 
own, an Eagle Folding Landing 
Net. The leather sheath protects 
it perfectly from the brush, yet it 
can be extended with one hand. 
By using it carefully I manage to 
catch most of mv bait with it also. 



AN OUTDOOR STOVE 

By Joseph T. Sproule 

The outdoor stove illustrated in 
this article is obviously very sim- 
ple, consisting merely of two logs 
and three keg hoops. The hoops 
were taken off of an old keg and 
bent into an elliptical form which 
measured 3 or 4 inches the short 
wav. Thev were then stored with 



^^4 




the rest of the camp outfit until 
needed. 

To set up the stove all that is 
necessary is to arrange two logs 
about a foot apart and parallel to 
the direction from which the wind 
is blowing. Then lay the hoops 



across as shown, and the stove is 
complete. This form of outdoor 
stove is verj'- convenient in that 
only the three hoops need to be 
carried in the camp outfit, and 
efficient in that most of the heat 
is concentrated to the area im- 
mediately beneath the cooking 
utensils. 



EARNING THEIR WAY 

By H. B. Boyce 

When traveling very light one 
might hesitate considerably before 
taking along even an extra pair 
of pants. Of course, you hope 




that the pair you have on will see 
you through. But "accidents will 
happen" and the nether garments, 
in particular, seem to be fatally 
inclined to mishaps. The diagrams 
show a neat way to make the 
extra pair of pants earn their 
transportation. 

Make a shallow bag. the same 
in diameter as the waistline of the 
pants. Sew the edge of this bag 
with rough stitches to the waist 
of the pants. Then turn the legs 
over and sew them also to the 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



35 



bottom of the bag. Your pants 
have now become a first-rate pack 
sack. Articles may be put in and 
taken out through the fly, and the 
legs form the shoulder straps. 
And if anything should happen to 
the pants you have on, you need 
only rip out a fev^ coarse stitches 
to make the extra pair available. 



A MINNOW BUCKET 
TRICK 

By Louis J. J. Tansey 

Sink a small baking powder can 
in your minnow bucket, laying the 
can on its side in the bottom of 
the bucket so that the minnows 
can hide in it. When you want a 
minnow, lift the can out quickly 
and you will find two or three in 




•N 




it every time. They always ap- 
pear to be the largest and best 
ones in the bucket, too. This 
saves chasing the minnows around 
or spearing at them with a little 



dip net whenever you want one. 
(Courtesy R. D. V.) 



A CAMP CANDLESTICK 

By V. J. Nichols 
A candle holder in camp? Sure 
thing. Take a split stake, a bit of 



<b, 



----C^NOLE 



:^. I *^- Birch Bark 




w " '< ' 



Earth 



-Split STAKE 






birch bark, and there you are. The 
diagram shows the combination 
better than words. 



IMPROVING THE MODEL 

1914 SAVAGE .22 

By Wm. Gunrich 

In the fall of 1915 I bought my- 
self a 1914 model Savage rifle, 
.22 caliber, tubular magazine, 
which I fitted with Marble's peep 
rear and Vicker's Maxim front 
sights. I now thought that I had 
an ideal rifle, and this it really 
proves to be. 

But my troubles began when I 
went out hunting. Going along 
an old logging road one bright 
morning I was surprised to see a 



36 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



partridge strutting up the road 
right ahead of me. 

Of course, here was a chance 
to try the new gun, so putting the 
Vicker's Maxim around the 
bird's head I pulled the trigger. 
The result was a distinct click. 
Now I remembered having put a 
shell into the barrel, so this some- 
what surprised me. But on look- 
ing it over I found the action 
partly open and no shell in the 
barrel. 

Well, I pumped in another shell 
and kept on, carrying the gun in 
one hand, clutched around the 
middle, when presently I noticed 
the slide handle move back. I 
now saw what caused the action 
to open. 

In carrying the gun my gloved 
hand had pressed the little lever 
which releases the action when 
the gun is to be opened before 
firing. This lever runs from in- 
stead of to the receiver, projecting 
at the front end for a distance 
of about a half inch or more. I 
don't exactly remember the length. 

Now it occurred to me that if 
this projection were not so long 
it would not be so likely to be 
accidentally pressed. So accord- 
ingly I cut it off, leaving it about 
three-sixteenths of a'n inch in 
length. I find this plenty long to 
release the action when I wish it 
to be released, yet too short to be 
pressed by accident. 
• Now you boys who do not own 
one of these rifles do not think 
that the rifle is no good, since a 
better rifle is not made of this 



class. This one little defect 
(which really is not a defect, 
since in target shooting the longer 
projection is the better or at least 
might be a little handier) can 
easily be remedied. 



A TWIST PREVENTER 

By Dick 

How often do we read an arti- 
cle written by some of our best 
anglers deploring certain baits be- 
cause of their tendency, in fact 
their sureness, to twist and snarl 
the line when used even a short 
time ! With what I call the 
Winged Keel (perhaps the editor 
can give it a better name) you can 
use the following baits for hours 
with little or no twist when used 
or reeled at fishable speed : The 
Archer spinner, Phantom minnow. 
Pearl wobbler, Cornwall spinner 
(with shortened wire), pork, 
frogs, shiners and, in fact, any 
bait that twists or turns itself. 

Of course, the Winged Keel is 
useless on any bait unless a swivel 
is attached either on bait or line 
below keel. 

By the way, the Cornwall spin- 
ner (shortened wire) is a dandy 
bait to cast, and it sure has 
proved a killer for bass and pick- 
erel in the hands of myself and 
friends. I use the bottled shiners, 
they being hardy and tough, and 
lasting longer than freshly-killed 
bait in warm weather. 

But to get back to my kink. 
W^ould advise adjusting keel 
either close to or away from 
swivel as needed in order to get 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



Z7 



swing of bait, the keel riding on 
top of line, wavering when being 

reeled in. 

Take a winged sinker (Fig. 1), 
which most all tackle stores sell, 




and a thin tin disc cut in half or 
folded if desired (Fig. 2). Sol- 
der to back or under side of sink- 
er (Fig. 3), and the trick's all 

done. 

The tin washer used ^or tar 
paper, tht disc on a circular type- 
writer eraser or a coin cut in half 
will do nicely and, believe me, you 
can cast what I believe to be some 
of the best baits on the market 
with pleasure and with no regrets 
for your line. 



TROLLING FROM A 
CANOE 

By Russell Moen 
Many fishermen think a canoe 
is almost useless to fish from. No 
comfort— too tippy— can't depend 
on 'em— just for Injuns, etc., etc. 
Did you ever fish from a canoe? 
I have used many kinds of boats, 
but for trolling my canoe is my 
favorite. Here is my method of 
using it : 

If fishing the left bank of the 
river I paddle on the right side 
of the canoe. I place the butt of 
the rod under the right knee with 
the rod resting across the gun- 
wales so that the reel just clears 
the right gunwale, allowing it to 
run freely when the strike comes. 
I press the left knee against the 
left gunwale with the rod resting 
a^rainst it. This holds the rod 







38 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



rigidly in position. The bait 
comes trolling along quietly on 
the left side of the canoe toward 
shore and the paddle, on the right 
side away from the rod, line and 
bait, makes very little fuss. 

This method is practical and lots 
of fun. Try it out and see. 



AN INGENIOUS TACKLE 
BOX 

By C. M. Mull 

The main idea in designing this 
tackle box was to have my com- 
plete outfit with me all the time, 
strapped to me so that it was 
easy to carry yet entirely out of 
the way. At the same time the 
contents of the box must be easy 



and six inches wide. The exact 
size should, of course, be deter- 
mined by the amount of tackle to 
be carried. The trays and box 
proper are built of a good grade 
of hardwood or a very good grade 
of pattern lumber. The pattern 
lumber will weigh the least. The 
entire interior should be given 
two or three coats of shellac. The 
outside is intended to be covered 
with a heavy water-resisting 
brown canvas, fitted well to the 
box and then put on with a heavy 
coat of shellac. 

The drawers themselves have 
several unusual features. First of 
these is the sling that enables the 
drawers to be pulled clear out and 
rested horizontally on the top of 
the box without falling off. The 





C=5 






m////////M 


w//my//M 








W/////////M 


WM///////m 








W/////////M, 




■ illlHliiili 




W////////M W///////////M 



Dee)D 
Tray 

Sfjate for 
Reels, Hooks, 
Lines, £Ct. 



.n 



g^=3 






Hoof's Oil Ifiihher Band 



U/oo<lfri Stitk roHold r,ih Huaks 



SKaUovy 
Tray 

For Spoons, 
Pl'jgs, Fliesi 
Ftc. 



\\\ 


v^ 
^3v 




' 




gv^5' 1 




k 


5 



Cross Section 

Deep Tra,y Open 



to get at. Every single piece 
should be accessible without re- 
sorting to laying anything down 
to get at anything else. 

The box as diagramed is about 
one foot long, seven inches deep 



cross-section diagram shows how 
one of these slings work. A wire 
is put in each back corner of the 
box and fastened top and bottom, 
so that a small ring will slide 
freely on it. To this ring a bit 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



39 



of stout cord is fastened and run 
to the top back corner of the 
drawer. This string is just long 
enough to allow the drawer to 
rest horizontally on the top of 
the box without tipping or falling 
off. The forward drawer has the 
same arrangement except that the 
two wires are fastened to the ends 
of the box and act in addition as 
runs between the two drawers. 

It will be observed that the par- 
titions of the smaller compart- 
ments, intended for hooks, sink- 
ers, etc., are set in on a slant. 
This is to keep the contents from 
falling out while the drawer is 
being lifted up. The two larger 
compartments are intended for 
reels and do not need to have the 
partitions slanted. 

The shallow tray is made deep 
enough to hold the thickest plug 
or spoon hook. Along the top of 
this tray is a row of hooks at- 
tached to a rubber band, which is 
tacked to the box between each 
two hooks. About a half-inch 
from the lower end of the drawer 
and a quarter of an inch from 
the bottom a small hardwood rod 
is run from side to side. By 
hooking the tail gang of a bait 
over this rod and attaching the 
swivel to one of the small hooks 
fastened to the rubber band, the 
bait is suspended perfectly, so that 
it will not be thrown around, 
scratched or tangled with the 
other baits. 

A fold of the canvas cover, fast- 
ened with a strap and buckle, 
forms the lid of the box. Buckles 



are attached at each end for fast- 
ening the shoulder strap. Two 
snap hooks are placed lower down 
for fastening a strap to go around 




the body and keep the box from 
swinging while casting. If the box 
is carried on the back of the hips, 
the snap can readily be unfastened, 
so that it may be swung around 
to get at the contents. Two more 
snaps can be put on the front of 
the box to suspend a creel from. 



FOOLING THE SMALL 
MOUTHS 

By Bass Fisherman 

While bass fishing in a small 
stream in the Middle West, But- 
ler County, Ohio, to be more ex- 
plicit, I was bothered by having 
the bass make exceptionally long 
runs with the bait (was using 
soft crawfish), with the resultant 
trouble of having the line foul 



40 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



and losing strike after strike. 
After having lost about a dozen 
fish in this manner on each of two 
consecutive afternoons' fishing, 
and not being able to connect in 
any manner that I tried. I started 
to study the situation with the idea 
of putting one over on Mr. Small 
^louth. 

After considering and rejecting 
several plans I finally evolved this 
idea. Being a bait caster as well 
as live bait fisherman, I had in 
my tackle box a small spoon with 
one treble hook. On my next try 
for bass in the long hole I took 
this treble hook and a spool of 
silk thread with me. Procuring 
a nice bucket of craws I com- 
menced operations by impaling the 
craw close to the body with one 
hook of the treble, binding the 
tail to the shank with a few turns 
of silk thread. The first cast was 
productive of a strike. Keeping 
my thumb on the reel I waited 
until the tip of the rod started to 
bend — then struck with the result 
Mr. Bass was hooked fair in the 
mouth and after a nice fight 
creeled. Eleven more followed 
suit. This little kink netted me 
twelve out of thirteen strikes. 
The thirteenth bass was such a 
good one that he carried the 
hooks off with him. 

While it is customary to use one 
hook in bait fishing, I do not be- 
lieve that this can be considered 
unsportsmanlike. I do not think 
that it was so much the three- 
hook feature that netted good re- 
sults as the manner of presenta- 



tion of the bait. While I do not 
employ this kind of means or- 
dinarily it did the trick when all 
other methods failed in a peculiar 
circumstance. 



MY HOME-MADE TACKLE 
BOX 

By a. a. Hodges 

How many times has the ques- 
tion been asked in this maga- 
zine, "What is the best way to 
carry bass plugs ?" There is al- 
ways something new to be tried 
out, or your friend tells 3^ou of 
a bait which was the only thing 
"they" would look at on a certain 
lake. Of course, you buy one to 
add to the collection and then 
wonder where you are going to 
put it. I used to carry mine 
around packed in their original 
boxes in a small leather grip. 
Usually the bait I wanted was at 
the very bottom, and more than 
once I would find that it had come 
out of the box and mingled lov- 
ingly with several others thait 
were rattling around loose. So I 
decided that it was about time 
to figure out some better method. 

I picked up a small leather case 
which had been discarded by a 
traveling salesman and started 
with that as my base. The out- 
side dimensions were 12^^4x9x3 
inches. From a tin shop ^ 
bought some sheet zinc, the cost, 
by the way, being thirty cents. 
A wood block or form was made 
to fit the case and the zinc shaped 
over it to make the lining. The 
corners were soldered and the 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



41 



zinc box then fitted snugly into 
the case with two rivets to hold 
it on each side. The form or 
block w^as then planed a little on 
the sides and ends and the tray 
made over it. In the tray I 




* — 1 2 V* 




lapped the corners and turned 
back the edges so as to make it 
stronger and leave no sharp 
edges. 

Then came the partitions. In 
the tray the compartments were 
made to fit the baits I had. It 
holds eleven baits, each in its own 
place and every one in sight. The 
lower part has wider compart- 
ments and holds extra baits, lead- 
ers, snelled hooks, a pair of pliers, 
small file, spoons, bucktails, extra 
hooks and spinners for the baits, 
etc. 

As every thing fits tight there is 
no rattling and nothing loose. A 
set of brass corners cost 40c more, 
and with a couple of coats of spar 
varnish I have the handiest com- 
bination tackle and bait box for 



less than $1.00 and all the fun of 
planning and making it. 

The zinc is light in weight and 
will not rust. Solder runs very 
easily and smoothly on it. All 
rough or sharp edges can be taken 
off with a file. The brass corners^ 
are riveted to the zinc on the bot- 
tom of the case and on the cover 
they are just nailed with small 
brass brads and clinched on the 
inside. 

As the case itself was only j4-in. 
wood the zinc lining has made the 
whole thing exceptionally strong, 
and it can stand some hard 
knocks. Of course, you can't put 
it in your pocket, but it takes up 
very little room. 



CARTRIDGE BELTS 

By a. W. Stevens 

Do you prefer to carry your 
cartridges in a belt, but refrain 
from doing so because they slip 

Lc^ihc" Strip 'Sf*^f^ a-^ — — -V 




V//'^ // //////'/// /// /M- 




out and are lost? A strip of 
rather thick leather sewed on the 
belt a short distance above the 
loops will help hold the cartridges 



42 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



in. This is not an absolute insur- 
ance against loss, but it helps. 

To carry cartridges in a belt 
made for cartridges of a larger 
size, lace a leather thong or thick 
string through the loops. If there 
is still too much room, lace back 
again so as to cross the strings. 



MOUNTING LEADERS 
SIMPLY 

By H. W. Buck, Jr. 

Some of us like to tie our own 
leaders, but after they are com- 
pleted they may be somewhat of 
a problem if simply coiled and put 
together in a pocket of the tackle 
book. Even if kept separately, 
sorted as to size and length, there 
is always the trouble of pulling 
out three or four when we want 
only one. A very little trouble 
when the leaders are tied enables 
me to have them in perfect order 



slits as shown in Fig. I. With 
a sharp pen-knife a half-dozen of 
the squares may be slit at one 
time. 

With the pen-knife slightly lift 
the tabs made by these slits. Now 
coil the leader under the four 
tabs. 

After the leader is in place take 
a strip of the same bond paper 
used in the card, having this strip 
about the same width as the tabs 
on the card and long enough to 
reach from the back of one tab 
to the back of the one on the other 
corner of the card. With the 
leader toward you press a tab 
down through the opening enough 
to let the strip of paper pass, thus 
enclosing the leader under tab. 
Push the strip through the open- 
ing made at front of tab as in 
Fig. 2. 

Now press tab opposite down 
and run strip through from under 




r.g I 



F.dH 



and labeled. It is done by a sim- 
ple method of carding'. The de- 
scription may sound very involved, 
but the method is simplicity itself 
and the cards may be used time 
and again. 

Take very stiff bond paper and 
cut it in squares of any required 
size for a leader card ; then cut 



Fifi m 



side. This completes the fasten- 
ing of the first strip of paper. Re- 
peat this operation with another 
strip of paper and the two remain- 
ing tabs and the leader is securely 
bound. 

A drop of paste where the slips 
cross at the back will prevent 
them from being displaced, and 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



43 



another drop under the strips will 
fasten them securely to the card. 
This is not really necessary if the 
strips fit snugly. Fig. 3 shows the 
way it looks when completed. 

This sounds very difficult, but 
it is really quite simple and is 
very quickly done. The cards are 
then marked and the leaders are 
ready for storing in the tackle 
book. 



THE BLUEGILL TIP-UP 

By Geo. W. Harvey 

When fishing for bluegills in 
the old way with a half dozen 
lines tied to the gunwales of the 
boat, one has to feel the lines 
with his hands to see whether he 
has any bites or not. Frequently 
one does this feeling at exactly 
the wrong time so that one scares 
the fish away. 

Now I just take a few staples 
or double-pointed carpet brads 




and drive them into the gunwales 
of the boat so that I can slip a 
tapered twig or a bit of whittled 
lath under them. With the line 



becomes a tip-up to signal when 
I have a bite on any of my hooks. 
With this arrangement it is easy 
to tend to half a dozen lines, and 
I rarely lose any bites. 



HOT BISCUIT TO ORDER 

By E. S. Brooks 

Did you ever wish you had some 
warm biscuit for supper when on 
a fishing trip and nowhere to 
bake them? Well, try this. 

Make a rather stiff dough of 
your pancake flour, stiff enough 




so it will hold its shape. Then 
take a stick on which there are a 
couple of prongs two or three 
inches long. Place the dough on 
the stick above the prongs, pass- 
ing the stick through the center 
of the dough. Tie a string to 
upper end of stick and hang it 
before your fire. Give it a twist 
or two so it will revolve, thus 



44 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



turning all sides to the fire. If it 
begins to burn move it a little 
farther from the fire. 

Will bake in ten to fifteen min- 
utes. Keep the dough revolving 
all the time or it will bake on 
only one side. Don't hang it over 
the fire, but at one side and about 
ten inches from the ground. 

DRIVING SPLITTING 
STAKES 

By Walter K. Smith 

When driving a wooden tent pin 
that looks as though it might split, 
take a ^-inch or 3/^-inch rope 
(usually the guy rope that the 
stake is intended for) and wind it 
tightly around the stake, begin- 
ning about two inches below the 
top and winding until the rope is 
about even with the top of stake. 
Hold the rope with the left hand 
and drive stake with the right. 

A TIN CAN OUTFIT 

By F. W. Kendall 

This outfit is made from used 
cans from the household supplies. 
The tools used are a tack hammer, 
an old pair of shears, a pair of 
pliers and a nail. The time of 
making is about four hours, with 
no cash outlay. 

The outfit is intended for two 
people, but with the addition of 
cups and plates, a couple more may 
be served. 

To make the stove, get two gal- 
lon fruit cans and cut out the 
tops and bottoms, leaving the 
seamed edges for stiffness. Cut 
the cans up the sides to the 



top, then each way close under 
the rims, leaving half the top 
uncut. Straighten out the cut 
flaps. Place the caps about 16 
inches apart, then measure for 
the side pieces. Seam on these 
and pound flat. Cut a piece of tin 
for a spider brace to go on the 
top. Make this an inch large all 
around and then cut in gashes so 
the tin may be bent about the wire 
rims of the holes. Bend down 
the ends of the spider over the 
sides of the stove, punch holes 
through the ends and through the 
seams. Make wire staples of hay 
bale wire, or the like. Place these 
in holes and hammer the ends 
tight down. 

Use small round boxes for the 
stovepipe. Cut out the bottoms 
and hammer the edges flat. One 
can is cut off at an angle for the 
stove collar. Place the oblique 
end against the stove and mark 
for the smoke hole. Cut out the 
tin so as to leave a half-inch mar- 
gin from the line. Score this 
margin to the line every half-inch, 
making tabs to hold the pipe in 
place. Bend every other tab out, 
then place the pipe inside these 
and bend all the tabs to fit. Fas- 
ten the point of the pipe and the 
lowest tab by a stable rivet. 
Crimp one end of each box so 
that they fit one over the other. 
Use pieces of tin for stove covers. 
Dig out the dirt under the edge 
of the stove when in use for 
draught. 

The fry pan is made from an 
octagon of tin with one side made 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



45 




Stove (>X/XI(> 



A Can Cu-t -for an End 




^ic&<, viei** of fry ban. 




Layout for- 12 Frybc^n 

' Octoc|o-rv ' 



HoLno(N 





Cix.\> ^"»-VK de-VouckoLbl^ Ka.r^a|< 




?(at-« 




tJBaK 



46 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



double into a socket for the han- 
dle. This handle is made by form- 
ing a tin tube with the end ham- 
mered flat and bent to shape. 

Use small can for cups so that 
they will nest. The handles are 
detachable. Make these of strips 
of tin doubled over twice and 
pounded flat, then formed to shape. 
The spring of the handle keeps 
them firmly on the cups. Ham- 
mer the rims of the pails flat so 
the liquids will pour better. Make 
the bails of any annealed wire 
bent to fit. 

Additions may be made to this 
outfit to meet the user's needs. 



I have found the size here given 
large enough for ordinary fishes 
with scales not easily detachable. 
Of course a machine hacksaw 
blade may be used. I use an "all 
hard" blade with sharp teeth. 



FISH SCALER AND KNIFE 

By a. p. Jones 

I am enclosing sketch of a 
home-made fish scaler and knife 
which has given me better satis- 
faction than anything I have 



THE CANOE SHELTER 
TENT 

By Norman F. Morse 

Here is a light, quick-pitching 
canoe shelter that has come out 
with colors flying in a service dat- 
ing from 1900, for the one I now 
have was made in that year. It 
goes along on all our trips. We 
often pitch the tent without the 
canoe, using it as a lean-to; it is 
always spread as a cloth to eat on 
when friend wife goes along for 
the day only, and between stops 
it makes a fine pack cloth. 

Flattened out, the tent makes a 




VVV^ T.-V-'Vao^^^- VU-VT-'t-^ 



Grind lo edge 



found in the stores. Referring to 
the diagram, A is hacksaw blade, 
9-16 in. wide, 14 teeth to the inch, 
2^ in. long outside the handle. 
The teeth on the blade point to- 
wards the handle. B is hardwood 
handle, 2^ in. long. Slot with 
hacksaw; insert blade; rivet as 
shown, and wind with No. 22 cop- 
per wire. Grind the back of the 
blade .to a knife edge if desired. 




B- 



-O-^-Rwet 




-^22 Copper Wire 



plain sheet, seven by twelve feet 
in size. Only the center panel, 
five by seven feet, is made of 
heavy duck for the roof. The two 
end panels, each three feet six by 
seven feet, which form the walls, 
are made of drilling to save weight 
and bulk. Small grommets are 
put in, one in each outside cor- 
ner, one in each corner of the 
roof, one in the middle of the 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



47 



back of the roof and one large 
grommet in the middle of the 
front of the roof. 

The regular pitch is made by 
setting the canoe up on edge, bot- 
tom to windward, propping it by 
a couple of forked sticks. A long 
"Silver Lake" cord is tied to one 
of the corner grommets in the 



The front guy cords are next 
passed out to convenient trees or 
else over forked sticks and then 
pegged down. Rocks or logs hold 
the sides to the ground (there is 
plenty of slack for these), and the 
tent is pitched. Takes a little^ 
longer to do than to tell. The big 
grommet in the center of the front 



• 

• 


OUCK 

M Of 


D(^ILl-lM6 






':' '■•• %\^ 



roof, run around over the bottom 
of the canoe, passed through a 
thwart and then run back up over 
the bottom of the canoe and 
through the center grommet. 
From here it is run back down 
over the bottom of the canoe, 
passed through the other thwart 
and back up to the grommet in 
the other corner of the roof, 
where it is made fast. From the 
rear the cord looks like a capital 
"W" run over the bottom of the 
canoe. The tent laps enough over 
the top edge of the canoe to shed 
water. 



edge is for an extra post if it is 
raining, as the roof sheds water 
better that way. This gives a 
roomy shelter, five by seven feet, 
and plenty high enough to crawl 
into, with the extra space of the 
canoe back of it to protect duffle. 



A HOME-MADE ROD TIP 

By Dean O. Smith 

Some time ago I broke the tip 
of my bamboo casting rod and, 
since the rod was an inexpensive 
one and I did not wish to pur- 
chase a new tip joint, I made a 



48 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



tip that has given very satisfac- 
tory service. 

I happened to have an old-style 
telephone receiver which was fit- 
ted with a detachable cord. The 
ends of this cord were tipped with 




Receiver Cord 



small brass pins and the joint be- 
tween the cord and the brass tip 
was protected by a ferrule which 
slipped down over the tip. I re- 
moved the ferrule and dressed 
down the tip so the ferrule would 
fit tightly over the end and ce- 
mented it on. I drilled a small 
hole in the end of the rod, 
screwed in a small nickeled 
screw-eye, leaving about one- 
eighth of an inch of the shank 
projecting from the hole. I then 
bent the eye quite sharply upward 
and soldered the eye so that it was 
closed all the way around and 
smoothed the joint with fine em- 
ery paper. I also soldered around 
the hole where the screw-eye en- 
tered the ferrule, thus making the 
tip water-tight. Do not bend the 
screw-eye before screwing it into 
the tip because if the twist of 
screwing it in comes at an angle 
from the side rather than straight, 
the eye will likely break off at 
the bend. I rewrapped and revar- 
nished the rod, and while it is 
now shorter by some eight inches, 



it is just the thing for the small, 
brushy streams. 

A standard onion crate makes 
as fine a live box for use in a 
camp as anything I have ever 
used. The slats are placed about 
a half-inch apart and the crate is 
large enough to hold fish up to 
two feet in length. When not in 
use the crate folds up and takes 
up very little space in your equip- 
ment. 



A. SLIDE FLOAT ARRANGE- 
MENT 

By a. B. Cotter 

Take a large cork float. With 
a pair of pliers pull out the round 
piece of wood that goes through 
the float. Get a piece of cane 
(bamboo), the same size of the 
wood that was taken out of the 
float. Push it through float, trim 
the ends smooth and even with the 




top and bottom of the float. Care- 
fully round out each end of the 
stem so it will not cut line. Pass 
line through cork. Fit sinker and 
hook on line and use a small bot- 
tle cork on line the depth wanted 
to fish. 

Now, when you want to fish 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



49 



three, four or five feet, your cork 
will slide down to the sinker and 
all the weight will be at the end 
of the line, so that a cast can be 
made much easier than if the 
cork is some distance from the 
end. When the line strikes the 
water the line will run through 
the cork and stop when the small 
cork strikes the larger one. 



A HANDY HOOK HOLDER 

By N. C. Burnham 

I have an article in my fishing 
kit for holding snelled hooks and 
for keeping small sinkers, split 
shot, swivels, connecting links, etc., 
that is very handy, and I have 
never seen another like it. I cut 
off a pine curtain pole so it would 
be just a little longer than a 
snelled hook, and so the hole in 
the end of the pole (the hole that 
holds the curtain spring) would 
extend nearly through. Then I 
fastened a piece of cork on the 
solid end with a couple of brads. 
The hooks are stuck into the cork 
and the snells fastened to the pole 
with a rubber band or two. 

A cork can be fitted to the hole 
in the opposite end and the hole 



, -e-/^** '**-«<* 




used for the small things — split 
shot, etc. A cloth case can be 
made to slip over the whole thing. 
I use the drill case that came with 
a jointed rifle rod. I have used 
my holder now for several years 
and I could scarcely get along 



without it. It keeps the snells 
from curling up and getting tan- 
gled, and the small things togeth- 
er where they can be gotten at 
handily. The drav/ing will make 
it clear. 



A MOTOR HINGE 

By Fred Rupert 

Outboard motors are a great 
blessing to the fisherman, but 
when one gets up into shallow wa- 



t.im ' ;i M ir, m 



i ; M 




ter, especially if one wants to do 
any casting, the propeller fre- 
quently catches on the bottom. 

To overcome this I hinged the 
top four inches of the stern board 
of my row boat and hang the 
motor to this. Now when I get 
into shallow water I simply pull 
off the rudder handle and tip the 
motor forward so that the pro- 
peller is brought free from the 
water. 

I use four stout hinges, the cen- 
ter pair eight inches apart, to al- 
low of the motor being hung be- 
tween them. At either end I also 
place an extra piece of steel to 
act as a brace and take the weight 
off of the hinges. 

This device also protects the 
rudder and propeller if they hap- 



50 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



pen to strike something when run- 
ning, as the motor will simply tip 
forward and allow the propeller 
to rise. 



THE OVERALL PACK 

By Bull Hart 

Just tie the legs and fill up the 
old bib overalls. One can also tie 
the bottom of the legs to the top 




of the bib and use the suspenders 
to tie with. 

Believe me, brother, this beats 
no pack "all holler." 



HOOKING YOUR FISH 

By Daniel P. Vader 

I find that a great many of my 
friends lose a large percentage of 
their fish by getting excited when 
they get a strike trolling for bass. 
I do a lot of trolling with live 



bait and my choice bait is a live 
minnow from 3 to 4 in. long. In 
trolling for bass I take my cast- 
ing rod and reel, use a good-sized 
hook and hook my minnow back 
of the gill on one side, allowing 
the point to come out through the 
gill on the other side of the head. 
I let my line out about 120 ft., 
then row very slowly until I get a 
strike. Then I use my kink for 
hooking the fish. I just stop the 
boat and watch him. As a rule he 
will take the minnow and run 
about four feet. Then he will 
stop, turn his minnow and again 
run two or three feet while swal- 
lowing the minnow. Then he 
stops for a second and starts 
again. This is the time to hook 
him. Do not get excited when 
you get a strike, but take your 
time. You will land more bass. 



SHOOTING OUT OBSTRUC- 
TIONS 

By C. J. Smith 

Here is a kink I have frequently 
made use of to gladden the hearts 
of Young America. Several 
times the boys came to me with 
a barrel of their little .22 badly 
clogged. A rag was stuck in the 
barrel or a bullet (often both) 
and in some cases examination 
showed a solid mass of obstruc- 
tion from 4 to 6 in. long. To 
poke this out with an improvised 
drill would take a long time, so 
I decided to follow the system of 
the boy who had originally tried 
to shoot out the obstruction. But 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



51 



I improved upon the technique, 
for instead of leaving a resilient 
air space between cartridge and 
obstruction, I fill this space with 
water and a .22 1. r. finishes the 
job. All that remains is to scrub 
up the barrel with the brass brush 
and the gun is again serviceable. 



A TAKE-DOWN LINE 
DRYER 

By J. A. Paxton 

To make the axle (Fig. A) se- 
cure a square stick of wood one 
and one-half inches in diameter 
and bevel each corner three-six- 
teenths of an inch. Bore holes 
(a-a-a-a) at each end to hold the 
side wires of the frame. Bore 
a hole in one end to fit the 
bracket B. 

To make the bracket B take a 
piece of copper or brass wire and 
file to fit the second joint of the 
rod, turn at right angles as in the 
illustration. A washer soldered 
on completes the bracket. 

The side wires (C) are made 
of either brass or copper as is the 
wire (D). The ring on the end 
of the wire (C) passes through 
the ring on the end of (D), mak- 
ing the completed frame (C, D, 
C), of which there are four. The 
rings enable the frames to fold, 
making the dryer very compact 
when taken down, and as the ends 
are open, the line will dry quickly. 

If A is made four and one-half 
inches long and C the same length 
the dryer will take up no more 
room than a wobbler bait and can 
be easily carried in the pocket. 



By having the bracket B fit the 
second joint of the rod it is pos- 
sible to dry the line in the boat 
while eating lunch, or while com- 




ing back to camp. It also makes 
it easy to change lines on a reel 
without going to bank, and, in 
fact, its convenience in many ways 
is apparent. 

To make the dryer self-con- 
tained when knocked down a piece 
of one-inch brass tubing can be 




used instead of a block of wood 
in making the axle A. If the 
tubing is used it will be necessary 
to use brass disks in the ends in 
which the wires C are placed. 



52 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



The arm of the bracket B will be 
shortened and riveted in the brass 
disk in such a manner that the 
disk will revolve easily. After 
riveting the bracket , solder the 
disk in the end of the tube. The 
disk for the other end of the tube 
can be made to fit snugly and is 
used for a stopper. 

The wires C and D should be 
of such a length as will allow 
them to be put inside of the tube. 

The self-contained dryer will 
take longer to make than the other 
one will, but it is well worth the 
trouble of the discriminating an- 
gler who wants the best of every- 
thing going. Its cost should not 
be over twenty-five cents at the 
most. 



A CAMERA KINK 
By E. B. Harding 

Some cameras are made so that 
they can be snapped by pulling a 
thread fastened to the shutter 
lever, allowing all members of the 
party to get in the picture and 
then some cameras are not in- 
tended to be used that way at all. 
Most cameras that can be oper- 
ated with a string are too ex- 
pensive to be risked on those very 
outings that afford ^ the best 
chances for the pictures we want 
most. In an effort to explain how 
the ordinary little old box kodak 
can be manipulated with a string, 
I submit the following Kink: 

Drill a hole through the shutter 
lever. Tie your fish line through 
the hole. Tie, or better still, strap 



your kodak to a tree, log, stone or 
something equally solid and at the 
same time focus for your picture. 
Now run the string up, over and 
across the top of the kodak, bring- 
ing it rectangularly around the 
crank that turns the film, the lever 
that unlocks the box for opening, 
the handle, or a tree — any old 
thing that comes in position. 
Now, be careful to have the shut- 
ter lever pointing down. 

Better practice this without a 
film in the box. Raise it until it 
is about to operate the shutter; 
carefully stretch the line to the 
spot selected for the picture and, 
when you're ready, "strike your 
fish." When the film is developed, 
the fish may be admired. 

I have taken lots of pictures in 
the above manner without the hole 
in the shutter lever. In that case 
I fasten a fish hook under the 
lever. However, the hook is hard 
to keep in place. Try it some time 
when you all wish to be in on the 
picture. 



A COLLAPSIBLE LANDING 
NET 

By C. H. Baldwin 

I had a good collapsible land- 
ing net a year ago, but it turned 
up missing, and I must have laid 
it down just outside my boat after 
the excitement of landing a big 
one. So I decided to make one 
and save the cost for "bait." 

Cut about 18 inches, or any 
length desired, for handle from a 
good broom handle. Take a piece 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



53 



of ^-inch brass tubing (b), which 
you can get at any electrical shop. 
Turn down the lower end of han- 
dle (c) so the tubing will slip on 




hooks in the holes, slip the tub- 
ing down to cover the wire, and 
you have it. 

Take an old fish line and wind 
the grip (f). Put a screw eye "g" 
in the end of handle to hang net 
on hook in your belt and the kink 
is ready for business. Slip the 



3j4 inches ; use a wood rasp if 
you have no turning lathe. 

Next take a piece of telegraph 
wire -^-inch diameter, and make 
the hoop for the net (a). You 
can bend it nicely by wrapping it 
around a four or six gallon crock, 
or anything round of proper size. 
Then bend each end of the hoop 
as shown in the cut at "d," and 
again bend a hook "e" on each 
end; can bend with a vise and 
hammer, or if you have no vise, 
pinch the ends in the jaws of a 
monkey-wrench and hammer them 
down. 

Next, bore a T^^-inch hole 
through the handle for the hooks 
to slip In, and from this hole on 
each side of the handle gouge a 
groove for the wire to set in flush 
with the handle. If you have no 
gouge, burn the groove in with 
a piece of the wire, red hot. Buy 
a net for 40 or 50 cents. Slip it 
on the hoop. Put the tubing on 
the handle. Fit the ends of the 
wire into the grooves. With the 



tubing back, fold the net back 
over the handle and the "kink" 
will go in your suit case. 



TO GET THE FROGS 

By Roy C. Harris 

Did you ever crawl around on 
your hands and knees trying to 
catch frogs when the fish wouldn't 
bite your artificial lures, and af- 
ter sneaking up on a big fellow 
have him slip out between your 



FlQ. 



cs^ 



=3/^#2 




fingers and escape into the river? 
Well, if you have, try this kink: 
Take an emergency tip or piece 
of wire two or three inches long 
that will fit into the ferrule of 
your rod. File the end flat on 



54 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



each side for about three-fourths 
inch back (Fig. 1). Then take 
two large hooks with long shanks 
and straighten them out. File off 
the eyes and flatten rear ends for 
three-fourths inch toward point 
(Fig. 2). Place flat end of hooks 
on flat end of tip and fasten in 
place with fine wire and solder if 
desired. Bend hooks to shape and 
store in tackle box until needed. 
When you wish to use it remove 
tip joint of rod and slip in the 
spear and 3^ou'll get your frog. 



A TWIG CUP HANDLE 

By H. N. Cramer 

The easiest drinking cups to 
carry on a camping trip are those 
made without any handles, so 
that they nest one in the other. 
These cups have the added ad- 
vantage that they have no seams 
or rivet holes to leak. Once in a 
while you want to dip up some- 
thing hot, however, and then the 
lack of a handle on your cup is a 
disadvantage. If you arc up 




against this predicament, just cut 
a small, flexible, Y-shaped twig. 
Have the ends of the Y long 
enough so that each of them will 
go clear around the cup. You 
will find that a single knot will 



hold the ends of the twig and the 
stem then forms a handle by 
means of which you can dip up 
your hot tea without any danger 
to your fingers. 



ICE CREEPERS 

By Chester R. Hall 

An outdoors man's kit is not 
complete unless he has a good 
pair of ice creepers. I have found 
the pattern shown herewith to be 
most effective. 

The material is band steel, an 
inch wide and ^ inch thick. The 






}h- 



-I *.: — ' 



^v,v,'.'o^N^^.v's'^',■AN^^^^^^'>^^v■.■.^'^';TO 




dimensions shown will fit the or- 
dinary man's foot. After cutting 
the steel to length, take a hack- 
saw or cold chisel (saw is best) 
and slot the corners as indicated. 
The mortise for attaching the 
straps is made by drilling four 
^-inch holes side by side near 
each end. Finish cutting out the 
holes with a cold chisel and 
smooth up the edges of them with 
a file. Next bend the ears up and 
the points down as shown. Reg- 
ular band steel will bend cold. 
Some steel may have to be heated 
first. After bending, remove all 
sharp edges with a file and trim 
the points down so they are just 
three-quarters of an inch long. 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



55 



To harden the steel, get a small 
quantity of cyanide of potassium, 
which can be had at any drug 
store. Tell them what you want 
it for, as there are several grades. 
Heat your creepers red hot. Put 
a small chunk of cyanide on them 
and place back in the fire so the 
cyanide may melt and run all over 
the metal. When the metal is a 
nice red, plunge in cold water 
and you will have a real temper. 
The creepers are finished by rivet- 
ing a strap and buckle to each 
one. Strap on over the instep, 
right in the middle of the shoe 
and you will have a creeper that 
will stay right where you put your 
foot. 



IMPROVING THE FRYING 
PAN 

By "'The Rambling Buckeye'"' 

Nothing like the old sheet-iron 
frying pan for a camping trip. 
But that long handle is always in 
the way when you want to pack it. 
Take your old ten-inch pan and 





Bent /ietal Strip 



cut the handle dov«'n until it is 
about 4 inches long. Then take 
a strip of zinc about ^ of an 
inch wide by 4^ inches long. 
Bend hooks on each end about y% 
of an inch deep. Then bend your 
strip into a semicircle so the hooks 



will catch in the beading on the 
edge of your stub frying-pan han- 
dle. When you get to the camp- 
ground cut a rough stick as long 
as you want. Whittle it roughly 
to fit in the metal loop you have 
made and the frying pan once 
more has a full length handle. 



SNAPPING YOUR OV/N 
PICTURE 

By George W. Harvey 

One of your kinks showed how 

to rig a camera so that it could 

be exposed by pulling a string, 

thus giving the operator a chance 




BOARO 



sr/fm 



to get into the picture himself. 
The device as shown at that time 
wouldn't quite work with my own 
box camera, so I set out to adapt 
something along the same lines. 

In order to give the camera 
solidity I used a good heavy board 
for a base. On this I nailed ^- 
inch strips to form a socket in 
which the camera rests. Directly 
under the exposure lever in the 
strip, on the right hand side of 
the camera, I drove a staple. (In 
the left hand strip I drove a sim- 
ilar staple. This does not show 
in the drawing.) In the exposure 



56 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



lever itself I punched a small 
hole. When I want to "get in the 
picture" a string tied through this 
hole and run down through the 
staple does the trick. 

For taking time exposures, in 
addition to the first string I tie a 
rubber band to the exposure 
lever. At the end of this is an- 
other bit of string which is led 
over the top of the camera and 
tied to the staple on the other side. 
(This is the staple hidden in the 
drawing. Thus I can pull the lever 
down and hold the camera open 
as long as desired with the first 
string. As soon as the pull is re- 
leased, however, the rubber band 
draws the lever up again and 
closes the camera. 



MY CIGAR BOX TACKLE 
CARRIER 

By Rambling Bill 

Desiring a light but fairly roomy 
tackle box to carry with me on my 
rambles, I secured a couple of 
good-sized cigar boxes and set to 
work. 

I took the cover of one of 
these boxes off from its cloth 
hinges and reset it with a couple 
of small metal hinges. The sec- 
ond box was used merely to fur- 
nish material for the. partitions, 
which were arranged about as 
shown. 

On one side of the largest com- 
partment I fastened a strip of 
stout leather that would not 
stretch, tacking it down in the 
middle and at both ends. This 
was -to hold my plain hooks as 



shown in the diagram. Then I 
took a strip of tin and cut a sharp 
point at each end which I turned 
down. Along either side of the 
tin I made a number of short 
diagonal cuts the edges of which 
I afterward dulled with a tool. 




I turned down the two points at 
either end and by sinking them 
into the wood, fastened the strip 
of tin to the under side of the 
box cover. At the other end of 
the cover I glued a number of 
small bottle corks. This arrange-' 
ment holds my snelled flies and 
hooks very nicely. I simply stick 
the points of the hooks into the 
corks and slip the snells into the 
slits in the tin. 

On the outside of the cover I 
fastened a "Unity Mixture" to- 
bacco tin for a bait box (Velvet 
and P. A. tins are too deep. One 
cannot reach the bottom easily 
with the fingers). 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



57 



Then with a sling strap fastened 
to the ends of the box and a 
couple of small hooks on the front 
for holding down the cover, the 
job was complete. This box holds 
a surprising lot of tackle, protects 
it nicely and carries very well 
with the strap slung over one 
shoulder and the box resting 
under the opposite arm. It is 
light, docs its duty and costs al- 
most nothing. 



A LIVE BAIT CARRIER 

By Henry D. Holley 

Anyone who has ever engaged 
in the lively sport of bass fishing 
realizes how necessary is a variety 
of bait. With this necessity, how- 
ever, there arises the question of 
transportation. While on my va- 
cation last year I determined to 
overcome this need and having 
combined my efforts with those of 
an old timer, I turned out a ser- 
viceable carrier. It is about 18 in. 
long and 12 in. wide and stands 
about 12 in. high. The top, bot- 
tom and all partitions are made of 
J4 or 5^-in. stock and the sides 
being enclosed with screening 
makes the box very light and 
portable. 

There are two layers with four 
sections on a layer, which I filled 
as follows : In the top section I 
put grasshoppers, crickets, katy- 
dids and dobsons, and in the lower 
spaces I put sandtoads, striped 
frogs, green frogs and tree-toads. 
As I have said, the ceiling and 
floor of each compartment is made 
of wood and two of the four walls 



are also, but the other two are en- 
closed by screening so as to admit 
air to the bait. 

At the top of each section there 
is a hole large enough to admit a 
man's closed hand. A piece of tin 
(A diag.) covers this hole ^nd 
overlaps it about one-half inch all 
around. This tin is secured at 
(A) by a screw, upon which it 
pivots. To close the cover you 
snap the tin, which has a small 
hole opposite A over the eyelet at 
B, and then push the hook C 
through the eye B. D is a small 
knob such as comes on the top of 
a teapot, riveted through the tin. 
Then the end is filed off on the 




underside so as not to interfere 
with sliding of the tin shutter. 
Four shutters similar to the one 
just described are fastened on the 
top of the box to admit to the 



58 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



four upper sections. Four others 
are fastened on the bottom and 
the four knobs for opening them 
form legs for the box. When any 
bait is required from the lower 
compartments the box is inverted 
and thus access to them is gained. 
The box is carried by a handle, 
like those used on a camera, 
which is attached to the top of 
the carrier. With this box well 
stocked, I felt capable of being 
able to tempt any bass. 



A HANDY BERRY PICKERS' 

CAN 

By H. B. Boyce 

Cut the top from a four-quart 
syrup can. Hang two little trian- 
gular doors from wires across the 
top, as shown in the diagrams. 
Each door is hung from a wire 
with an extra bit of tin bent 
around the end of the wire to 
keep the door from sliding out of 
place. Now if you stumble or 




drop the can, these doors will 
swing shut ahead of the berries, 
so you will not lose them. 

In opposite corners of the can, 
near the top, make holes and in- 



sert a wire bail. A thong to go 
around the neck completes the out- 
fit. I have used several of these 
cans and like them much better 
than the usual baskets or bucket. 




Your berries are safe at all times. 
Both hands are free for picking 
and the can, being suspended from 
your neck, is always convenient. 



A SHINGLE CREEL 

By Elton Hurning. 

I live in an excellent trout coun- 
try and manage to get about as 
many of the speckled beauties as 
the next fellow. For many years 
I have made my own creels out 
of the simplest of materials. I use 
shingles for the sides and ends 
and 54- or /^-inch boards for the 
top and bottom. The boards may 
be cut curved to fit the side of 
the body without fear, as the shin- 
gles, which should preferably be 
of cedar, will bend nicely without 
splitting. The shingles are tacked 
to the top and bottom boards with 
small nails. Before the front is 
nailed on a generous notch is 
sawed into it for a hand hole. A 
cover, fastened with a small pair 
of hinges or a strap, is made to 
fit this, leaving only a small hole 
for the insertion of the fish. The 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



59 



shoulder strap is tacked onto the 
back and the job is completed. 

This type of box keeps the fish 
nice and hard, particularly if you 
lay a handful of green clover or 
leaves between them. The box can 
be made any size to suit your own 
ideas. I have made many of them 
and sold them, too. 



CORN FOR CARP 

By H. F. Hollmann, Jr. 
In several issues of Outer's I 
have noticed bait mentioned for 
catching carp, but do not recall 
seeing the following recipe : When 
other bait is scarce, a can of 
sugar corn can always be relied 
upon to do the trick. Or while 
the field corn is* still in the milky 
white stage, or just turning, it 
can be used just as successfully. 
It surely is an isolated fishing 
hole where one will not have to 
pass a cornfield somewhere on the 

Oway. A few 
rows cut off with 
a knife will be 
suffici e n t for 
several hours' 
fishing, if they 
don't bite too 
fast. 

As for baiting 
the hook, have 
not as yet found 
the one and only 
way. My per- 
sonal preference 
is a small hook 
with a rather 
long shank and 
the corn placed 



Use a 

long 
.s flanked 
hook of 
small 
sUe 




on the point and just around the 
turn. This, for the reason that Mr. 
Carp belongs to the "sucker" 
family, and with a small hook 
can get hook and all without 
much trouble. If the corn is 
strung all the way up the shank 
he is liable to have a meal before 
he gets to the business end of the 
hook, not mentioning the excite- 
ment caused to the one on the 
bank, who is waiting for Mr. Carp 
to get the hook. Now if you can 
hook one weighing from five to 
ten pounds with light tackle, you 
are going to have some fun before 
he comes in. 



STEEL RING GUIDES 

By Wm. Gunrich 
Some time ago I received as a 
premium with my subscription to 
Outer's Book a Heddon rod of 
the kind that sells for a dollar and 
a half. It has better action than 
my five-and-a-half-foot steel rod. 

However, when I looked at the 
guides I saw that they were not 





just as I would like to have 
them. They may have been as 
good as any, but I had an idea 
that they could be improved up- 
on. As I happen to be so fortu- 
nate as to have the use of a foot- 
power lathe, I set to work to 
make the improvement. 

First I got a piece of steel out 
of which I cut the rings. These I 



60 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



made as nearly like the agates on 
my steel rod as I could. After 
turning them up and polishing 
them, I hardened them as hard as 
possible. Then in the groove on 
the outside of each ring I fitted a 
good stiff wire. Where the wire 
crossed on the lower side I sol- 
dered it. I then brought the ends 
out at right angles and flattened 
them. 

After that I mounted them in 
place of the old guides, took an- 
other look at the job and chuckled. 



THE USEFUL SAFETY PIN 

By Bert Heckett 
We had pulled hard for about 
two miles to a rocky shore on 
Lake Winnepesaukee, N. H., where 
we knew there were bass. On get- 
ting to the grounds, I found the 
tip of my casting-rod broken by 
the fish tank resting on it (large 
zinc tank to keep fish alive in). 
You can imagine my feelings. 
Had come all that way to fish for 
one hour, 5 to 6, and back with 
the wind in time for supper at 7 
p. m. 

It was out of the question to go 
back for repairs, and, without 
tools, I felt rotten Was just 
about to go back to camp and 
give up for the day when I saw 
a large-sized safety pin sticking in 
my old raincoat (probably been 
there since last year). I took it 
to try and pry the wood from the 
agate guide tip to refit it, but it 
would not come out. Then the 
Kink came to life. Why not tie 
the pin on the tip of the rod and 



use the round loop for a guide? 
No sooner the thought than the 
deed. 

With an old rusty file, kept in 
the boat for sharpening hooks, I 
filed and broke off the clasp end 
and roughed up the sides of the 
pin. Placed it on tip of rod, loop 
close to end of tip. Broke off a 
couple of feet of line and bound 
on pin, tight. 

Threaded line through loop of 
pin, attached pork rind minnow 





and went to work, and, incident- 
ally, got four bass from 1^ 
pounds to 2 pounds and one pick- 
erel of 4^ pounds, and arrived 
back at camp at 7:10 with the best 
catch for that one day. The pin 
guide appeared good for many 
more trips, but I repaired my rod 
that evening, and the pin guide is 
hung up as a memento. 



A CLOTHESPIN PLUG 

By James McCaffrey 

From an ordinary clothespin I 
whittled a plug to the shape shown 
in the drawings. To the bottom 
of this I attached a treble hook. 
The treble does not swing free. 
It is attached by means of a screw 
and held more firmly in place by 
means of a small staple across the 
shank. A screw eye for fastening 
the line to completes the bait. 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



61 



I painted this a pure white and 
tlien splashed it with irregular 
markings of red and green. I 
have had fair success with this 







TopVa 



tew 



bait for small-mouth, and have 
had more strikes on it than on 
some of the costly plugs. This 
bait has the added advantage of 
being nearly weedless. 



THE FINGER RING 
SPOOLER 

By Jas. W. Birthong 

Here is a simple Kink that will 
enable you to spool the line on a 
plain reel as well as any mechan- 
ical level-winder can do the job 
and with no complicated machin- 
ery to obstruct the cast. Get a 
ring that will fit the first joint 
on the index finger of your left 




hand. You can have one made 
at the jewelry store out of silver 
or nickel if necessary. On the 
top of this ring is to be set a small 
yoke or crotch to guide the line 
with. The diagram should make 



the manner of using this device 
quite clear. When reeling in just 
palm your reel in the ordinary 
manner. Catch the line in the 
yoke guide it back and forth with 
the finger. It is positive in its 
work and handles as slick as any- 
thing you ever tried. Nothing 
simpler. 



IMPROVED OAR LOCK 

FASTENING 

By Harry F. Ries 

The enclosed sketch shows an 
arrangement for the oar locks on 
small boats. The oar lock itself is 
screwed on to a wedge-shaped 





N\\^ 



piece of oak cut with a shoulder 
to rest on the boat's side, and 
fastened by running wire nail 
through hole near top and twist- 
ing oar lock until nail is bent in 
shape to hold. Wooden strips are 
placed inside of boat and the cross 
pieces made of hoop iron. 

You can readily see that this ar- 
rangement takes a good deal of 
strain off sides of boat. The 
screws will not readily pull out 
of oak as when placed in soft 
material from which boats are 
usually built. The locks are per- 
manently fast, yet can be taken 
out when boat is not in use. The 



62 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



additional knee room in a flat- 
bottom boat is also appreciated. 

This idea was copied by me 
from a boat built many years ago. 
I've used it and found it so good 
that I want to pass it along. This 
was the only boat I ever saw so 
equipped. 



MORE BREAM FISHING 

By J. H. Ervin 

I recently read the Arkansas 
boy's kink about bream fishing 
with roaches, and he didn't tell all 
about the tackle part of the 
game. 

Get three or four canes from 
some rich bottom land, twelve 
feet long and, say, one inch in 
diameter at butt. Dry thoroughly 
and straighten over alcohol flame ; 
select the one with best v.-hip and 
"feel" and mount it in a handle 
two or three feet long m.ade of a 
piece of Japanese bamboo of a size 
to comfortably fit the hand. Have 
the hole in bamboo just fit the 
small cane. Cut four V-shaped 
notches in the bamboo and trim 
down to taper with small cane; 
wrap with small silk line, using 
the pull under, no knot way. 
Sandpaper the joints only, and 
varnish the entire roJ. 

Use small size silk worm gut 
leaders; piece a nine-Toot to a 
three- foot and lue enough hard 
braided silk line to make, with 
the snelled hook, just the length 
of pole. For the float get about 
four inches of peacocK feather, 
hammer a BB shot very thin, 
cut the edges even and wrap just 



below the joint of sneli and 
leader. W];ap it to make as 
small a lump as possible, and let 
it be just heavy enough to si.ik 
the bait slowly. A litcle practice 
and you can cast with this outfit 
and make only a small ripple — 
not the splash and "ker-chunk" 
the quill and split shot make. 
Then when you hang one of the 
"big blue fellows" the fun you 
will have with that light lackle 
will pay for all the trouble of 
making it. 



A COMPACT OUTFIT 

By James McCaffrey 

I have made a combination 
grate reflecting oven and cooking 
pan that I believe will be of in- 
terest to the readers of your kink 
column and I offer it, as follows : 

The folding grate is made up 
of band iron that can be pur- 
chased at any sheet metal dealer's 
for a few cents, as it is used 
merely for shipping sheet iron 
from the mill and is of no use 
after the bundles are opened. The 
grate is made up as per drawing 
and the leg sections are loose- 
riveted so they can be folded in. 

The cooking pan is made of 
black iron and is 18 inches long, 
95^ inches wide and 1 inch deep 
and the grate when folded just 
fits in the pan nicely. The re- 
flecting oven is made so it can 
be knocked down and fits on top 
of the grate and its general di- 
mensions is as sketched. 

Oven is made of bright tin with 
edges hemmed or just bent over 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



63 



and hinges put on so that the ends 
fold in and under the top. This 
oven when folded just fits the top 
of the cooking pan, covering the 
grate and making the most com- 
pact outfit I have yet seen. 

The grate cannot collapse after 
being put into the ground, as the 




flat braces are held firmly in place 
by the side pieces. Band iron I 
used is ^ inch wide and about 
3-64 inch thick. 



GETTING THEM OFF THE 
HOOK 

By E. N. Cartier 

We often hear fellows say that 
they have trouble in taking fish off 
the hook on account of sharp fins; 
or that they won't take their fami- 
lies on a fishing picnic because 
wifey and the kids keep dad on 
the jump unhooking their catch 
and give him no chance to fish. 
When going home time comes, 
father has nothing to show and 
the family have a fine time laugh- 
ing at him. Father laughs along 
at his lack of a string, but his 
face hurts with every smile, and 



the next time he goes alone. In 
order to dispose of this trouble 
and still be able to take the 
family along, buy a box of ringed 
hooks in your favorite size when 
you are stocking up for the 
season. Instead of gut snells use 
remnants of discarded line 6 or 8 
inches long. 

Gather the family around the 
table some night after supper and 
proceed to tie one of these short 
leaders to each hook. When you 
go fishing tie your sinker on the 
end of the line and 8 or 10 inches 
above it make a plain knot, as 
shown in the diagram. Take one 
of your prepared hooks and tie it 



Pull Here 




to the line above this knot with a 
plain bow. If more hooks are 
wanted, do the same thing with 
them above the first hook. The 
knot on the line prevents the bow- 
knot from slipping down and the 
harder the fish may pull on the 



64 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



hook the more the bow-knot will 
tighten. 

When you have landed a fish 
and find he has swallowed the 
hook, catch hold of your line 
above the hooks with one hand 
and with the other pull on the 
end of the bow and your fish 
drops into the basket. Then tie 
on another hook and bait up. Do 
not bother about taking out the 
hooks until you get home, by 
which time you will be cutting 
up the fish anyhow and the hooks 
will be easy to get out. 

By this method mother, father 
and the kiddies can all have a 
good time and everyone can take 
care of his or her own line. 



SPLICING A BREAK IN A 
BAMBOO ROD 

By Wm. S. Cogswell 

I happen to be the proud pos- 
sessor of a Heddon casting rod 
that has been in continual use for 
the past eight years. While land- 




■'■■■Coppcr Strips 



-Wire- 



ing a fish one day last summer, 
said rod gave up the fight. On 
examiination I found the bamboo 
had become loosened in the butt 
and on removing the butt I found 
that the continual run of water in 
the handle during its years of 
service had rotted two strips of 
bamboo. This rod, being an old 
pal of mine on many fishing trips, 
I at once declined to lay it away. 



So I will try to the best of my 
ability to explain how I repaired 
my rod. 

After removing the handle I 
glued the broken strips together. 
Then I gouged the center of each 
strip one-sixteenth of an inch and 
inlaid copper an eighth of an inch 
wide and one-sixteenth of an inch 
thick in each gouge across the 
broken joints. 

Then putting the rod back into 
the butt, I. took No. 22 copper 
wire and, starting from the fer- 
rule, wound it closely together 
down on the rod over projecting 
copper strips and slipped the end 
of wire alongside the copper strip 
under winding. After rubbing 
soldering paste on the wire wind- 
ing, I then took hot solder and 
poured on winding and wiped off 
solder with a waxed cloth. That 
left the winding as smooth as a 
plumber wipes a joint. Using 
sandpaper to smooth out rough 
spots, my rod was as good as new. 
Enclosed you will find a drawing 
which I think will explain my 
method more clearly than I have 
written it. 



DOUBLING UP THE 
STOPPLE KIT 

By Julien Swanson 

Being one of these fellows who 
delight in undermining their 
friends' digestive apparatus with 
what is known as camp cooking, 
and also more or less infected 
with the "golight" bug, I soon fell 
for a Stopple Kook Kit. And al- 
though it has proved the ideal 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



65 



cooking outfit for the two-party, 
week-end hike or fishing trip, it 
has its limitations when it comes 
to an extended trip or a larger 
party. Not wanting to invest in 
an expensive, nesting aluminum 
outfit, nor liking the bump that 
one of these make in a pack sack, 
I got one more Stopple (giving 
me two in all), and figured out 
the following kink. It fills the 
bill fine, and I can joyfully go 
ahead and poison six or eight at 
a time now if I want to. 

I had a tinner make me a con- 
tainer 2}i inches wide by 934 
inches long and 9]/2 inches high, 
with a cover that goes down on 
the container 2^ inches. We 
used the heaviest tin we could get 
and made it with lock seams so 
that heat could not melt the sol- 
der and open up the joints. 
Where the lower edge of the 
cover comes we made a small 
bead in the rim to stiffen it up a 
little. On the ends of the con- 
tainer and just below the cover 
we riveted on flat ears wide 
enough to take a one-inch carry- 
ing strap, and I also fasten a wire 
bail in these when cooking. Into 
this container go my two Stopple 
Kits edge to edge, and I have a 
nice flat package that fits fine in 
the pack sack or carries with a 
shoulder strap without rolling all 
around my equator. 

Arriving at camp, I set up both 
grates side by side with my large 
container on the windward side, 
where it gets a lot of heat besides 
helping considerably as a wind- 



shield. This large container gives 
me a mulligan or spud kettle that 
holds about a gallon, and when I 
don't need it for cooking it makes 
a good water pail. The inverted 
cover makes a good mixing pan or 
small stewpan. The two Stopple 
stew-kettles (one at each end of the 
grates) fix me out for coffee and 
dessert. The four frying pans 
can be used as such or as plates, 
and I have four cups. Sometimes 
I use one Stopple outfit for bak- 



ec*d' 




ing, as per Stopple directions. 
There is no limit to the various 
combinations. Figure them out 
for yourself. I am going to make 
a waterproof canvas carrying case 
for the container, which will be 
mighty handy as an extra water 
pail in this country, where our 
water must come from the near- 
est well. 



KEEPING MINNOWS 
ALIVE 

By W. E. Cladek, M. D. 

For the past few years I have 
been very successful in keeping: 



66 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



minnows alive while carrying 
them. I use an ordinary work- 
man's dinner pail with two com- 
partments, such as can be pur- 
chased nearly anywhere for a very 
small price. I fill the top com- 
partment with ice and put the 
water with the minnows in the 









y/afer Co/tCainin^ /^inno^^ 



Tnvui •■liii..iir7T,j 



^ 




bottom compartment. A small 
hole punched through the floor of 
the top compartment allows the 
melted ice to gradually drip into 
the bottom compartment. The ice 
can be renewed very easily and 
on very hot days a wrapping of 
heavy paper around the bucket 
makes it better. 



A SELF-STRIKING HOOK 

By H. J. Heath 

The diagram shows a kink that 
has been used successfully many 
times. It can be made in a few 
minutes with a piece of spring- 




brass wire, some hooks and a 
little solder, and is just the thing 
for trolling for bass, pickerel and 
other game fish. The diagram 
shows the principle fairly well. 



The two large hooks at the end 
are held close together by an arm, 
B, which is soldered to one of the 
hook shanks and has a bend in the 
end which catches the other hook 
shank just enough to hold it. The 
bait is fastened on the small 
double hooks marked A and ex- 
tends backwards as far as de- 
sired. 

When the fish strikes, the up- 
per trailer hook is immediately 
knocked loose from the small bend 
in the arm, B, that holds it and 
the spring thrusts the two hooks 
apart vigorously, striking them 
well into the fish's mouth. 

C is a small loop for fastening 
to the line. 

REPAIRING STEEL RODS 

By E. J. HOLLOWAY 

A broken steel rod may fre- 
quently be repaired by a very sim- 
ple process. Usually the ends 
of the tube where broken have 

w/77m/7/W/my7/////////MM ' ' ^ 

■"-"-' - • •- .1-.- --r. -•-- --- ........ 

become somewhat pinched or dis- 
torted. If this is the case insert 
the tang of a file or any other 
convenient tool in the opening and 
by rimming around and around 
the circular cross section can be 
restored. A pair of pliers judi- 
ciously used may help in this oper- 
ation. Then with the file smooth 
the face of the break square 
across. Take a piece of wire 
slightly larger than the interior 
of the tube and file it to a tight 
fit. Heat the broken end of the 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



67 



tube so as to expand it slightly. 
It need not be heated so much as 
to destroy the temper. A very 
moderate heat will expand it con- 
siderably. Warm one end of the 
prepared wire. Cover it with a 
bit of solder and while the latter 
is still soft push the wire down in- 
to the tube for half its length. 
Repeat with the other side of the 
break. A drop of solder run 
around where the two ends of the 
break come together will make 
all smooth and complete the re- 
pair. 

A BARBECUE FORK 

By A. H. Froom 

Out here in California we bar- 
becue a good deal of meat. I am 
enclosing herewith diagrams of a 
fork and jack that I have found 
very handy for this purpose. 

I get an ordinary four-tined 
pitchfork and have the blacksmith 
straighten out the tines. For the 
handle I have fitted on a plain 




Fork 



Jack 



o 

piece of gas pipe about sixty 
inches long, so that I can stand 
well back from the fire. I usually 
put a ferrule joint in the middle 
of the handle and also simply slip 



it on to the fork socket. This 
makes it take down easily for car- 
rying. I have these joints beaten 
square so that the fork will not 
twist when the handle is turned. 




^'^\ 



The jack is made very simply, as 
shown in the diagram. If one 
uses about ^-inch rod for the 
jack it may be slipped into one of 
the handle joints for carrying. By 
resting the handle of the fork in 
the hook of the jack one can turn 
the meat at his leisure, thus hold- 
ing the juice in the meat instead 
of losing it in the fire. 



A SAFETY-FIRST BELT 

By Arthur Johnston 

Here is a Kink that I thought 
out several years ago. Now I 
cannot do without it. Get a piece 
of heavy duck or canvas (about 
twelve or fifteen ounce weight) 
nine inches in width and ten inches 
longer than your waist measure. 
Fold and sew into a tube using 
heavy linen thread. Machine 
stitching is preferable. Leave five 
inches at either end unstitched 
and slit the opposite edge at the 
fold so that you have two five- 
inch flaps at each end. 



68 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



Now turn the tube inside out 
and get six small buckles and 
the same number of small leather 
billets. Tuck one flap at each end 
of the tube in and bring over the 
other flap. Mark where it comes 
and rivet three of the buckles at 
each end of the tube to meet it. 
Then fasten three of the billets 
on each of the overlapping flaps 
so as to fit the buckles. Fasten a 
good belt buckle on one end of 
the main tube and a six or eight 
inch length of belt to fit it on the 
other end. It is worth while to 
give the canvas a good coat of 
shellac or varnish, as it is then 
not so likely to be penetrated or 
torn by sharp sticks and hooks. If 
varnish is used, let it dry thor- 
oughly and then dust the inside 
of the tube with powdered soap- 
stone. 

Go to a bicycle repair shop and 
get a piece of discarded motor- 







cycle inner tube the length of 
your belt. Have this thoroughly 
repaired and a valve and stem 
put on. Make sure that both ends 
are firmly sealed and test the tube 
by inflation under water. Lay the 
inner tube on your belt and mark 
where the valve stem will come. 
Cut a round hole in the top edge 
of the case and reinforce it with 
a small patch of leather. Now 
insert the inner tube into the cas- 
ing and bring the valve stem 



through the hole provided for it. 
Partially inflate the inner tube, 
making sure that it is not twisted 
or pinched at any point. Then 
tuck in the loose flap at either end 
of the casing. Bring the other 
flaps over and buckle them down. 
Finish inflating the tube and your 
safety-first belt is ready to wear. 

With this belt around your 
waist you need have no fear of 
slipping into deep holes while 
wading. Or if you are a poor 
swimmer and go boating with that 
cursed fool that rocks the boat, 
you will have no appointment with 
the undertaker. I use one of 
these belts on all of my trouting 
trips. When I come to a pool 
that is too deep to wade I just 
float down the middle, casting 
right and left. Incidentally I have 
taken some of my best fish this 
way. 

Rolled into a coil this belt 
makes an excellent cushion or a 
dream of a pillow for your weary 
head at night. Deflated, it slips 
into a small pocket and weighs 
less than two pounds. The mate- 
rials for mine cost me less than 
a dollar and I did the work my- 
self. It is necessary, of course, to 
carry a small brass bicycle pump 
with this belt and a couple of 
rubber patches and some cement 
in your repair kit. 



ANOTHER SLIDING FLOAT 

By J. W. NoYES 
Many times when out bait-cast- 
ing and "they" wouldn't hit the 
plug, I have longed to use my 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



69 



short rod for still fishing. Plenty 
of froggies on the bank and a 
float in the tackle box. But I 
want to fish deep, perhaps, and 
just imagine making a cast with 
fifteen or twenty feet of line out 




between the bait and the rod be- 
fore you start out. Pretty awk- 
ward. And then, even if you are 
successful in getting the line well 
away from the boat, imagine what 
it will be when you get a fish on 
and can't reel in any farther than 
the float. Here's a way out of the 
difficulty : 

Remove the stick which runs 
through an ordinary float and sub- 
stitute therefor a reed pipestem. 
The smoke conveyor from a cob 
Willie will about do the trick. 
String the line through this and 
tie a small bowknot in it above 
the float at the place where you 
want the float to stay. Reel this 
bowknot right in and the float wil! 
slip down to the hook. Make your 
cast and the weight of the bait 



will pull the line back through the 
float to the desired depth. 

In playing the fish, if you should 
be so fortunate as to get one on, 
the bowknot usually comes untied. 
If not, it still reels easily through 
the guides. 



RAPID FIRE FISH CLEAN- 
ING 

By G. H. Strohm 

Don't scale your bass or clean 
him. Just lay him flat on his side 
and make a clean cut through the 
skin from head to tail over the 
backbone. Do the same thing on 
the under side, but slightly, just 
breaking the skin. Cut the skin 
also around the head and tail as 
indicated by the dotted lines in the 
diagram. 

Grasp the point of the skin at 
the top of the head between knife 




-*>5I7 




blade and thumb. One good pull 
and that side is skinned. Do the 
same with the other side. Then 
slice ofl^ a nice strip of boneless 
flesh on each side and throw the 
rest to the birds. You can do this 



70 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



without cutting into the entrails 
at all. 

At first glance this looks like a 
waste of good bass meat, but one 
really loses very little and does 
away with all bother on account 
of the bones. If you really want 
your appetite whetted you should 
see the job done by a Canadian 
guide at lunch time when every- 
orfe is too hungry to wait for the 
eats. 

A FANCY STITCH 

By J. Everett Willis 
One often wants to sew a pistol, 
knife or rifle scabbard with buck- 
skin or some other leather, be- 
cause it will wear longer, be 
stronger and last longer than if 
sewed with thread. Many people 
like to have things useful as well 
as ornamental and the follow^ing 
stitch will be found just the thing 
for sewing the many leather arti- 
clas to be found in the sports- 
man's kit. 

Buckskin is the best for sewing, 
though fine oiled calfskin is also 
good. Cut the strings a little 
wider than wanted and thoroughly 
soak and stretch them. They may 
be softened by rubbing them with 
a soft soap made by boiling shaved 
white laundry soap in an equal 
amount of water. English Crown 
Saddle Soap is the best. 

You can punch the holes, or 
make them with an awl. The latter 
will make the best job. Begin just 
as though you were going to sew a 
regular over-and-over seam, only 
don't pull the loop tight, but take 



another stitch through the loop, 
instead of through the leather 
again. Then pull the loop tight 
and make the next stitch through 
the leather. 

The stitch begins at the top. 
The first stitch is a regular over- 
and-over stitch, and the second is 
the fancy stitch. The string is 
sewed through from right to left, 
both in the stitch through the 
leather and the stitch through the 
loop. If the stitches are pulled 
tight and evenly, it will look just 
like three braid on top and will be 
an added strength as well as an 
ornament to any holster. 



KEEPING EYED FLIES 

By Sherwood Buck staff 

Many of the fishermen who use 
eyed flies — and there are more 
who do each season — carry their 
flies with them in a tin tobacco 
box. This is easy to carry and 
holds plenty of flies. But it is very 
inconvenient. If you want a small 
fly it is sure to be at the bottom of 
the box. When you finally get it, 
three or four other flies are usu- 
ally hooked in with it, and you 
must put down your box and dis- 
entangle them. Quite often they 
drop apart unexpectedly and fall 
into the grass. This is very an- 
noying and loses much time. 

Now for the Kink. Before you 
go, when you are arranging your 
tackle, cut several sheets of rather 
stiff paper to fit your fly box. 
Stick the points of your flies in 
these sheets, arranging them ac- 
cording to size, color, or any other 



KiNKS OF ALL KINDS 



71 



way you prefer. Be sure that the 
barb is pushed clear through the 
paper. Then, on the stream, when 
you want a fly, take out the sheet 
containing that fly, and jerk out 
the fly. Never mind if you tear 
a big hole — you can stick the fly 
back in a little to one side. Prob- 
ably, if you are like most anglers, 
you will want to rearrange your 
flies before each trip anyway. 
This Kink takes little time at 
home, when your time is not valu- 
able, and saves precious minutes 
on the stream. 



THE SELF-PULLED WIND- 
"^ ING KNOT 

By Charles F. Speorl 

Here is a simple and effective 
way of making the concealed fin- 
ish on rod windings : 

Lay your winding silk along 
the rod in a loop as shown in the 
Then go right on 



first diagram. 




winding over this loop. When 
the winding is as long as you want 
it, break the silk, leaving an end a 
couple of inches long. Bring this 
end (B) through the loop. 

Still holding onto end B to 



keep the winding taut, pull stead- 
ily on end A. This will pull the 
loop back under the winding. 
When the end of the loop has been 
pulled about half way through, 
cut both ends of the line that are 
left projecting and your winding 
is fastened both neatly and secure- 
ly. Be careful not to pull the loop 
too far through, as this would 
leave the beginning of the wind- 
ing insecurely fastened. 



HOME-MADE BAIT 
SOCKET 

By a. L. Weaver, Jr. 

Being quite a novice at the fish- 
ing game I lik^ to have a number 
of different kinds of bait, so I 




F/gl 



Fig.Z 



make them during the winter 
months. One of the propositions 
I ran up against in making my 
own baits was some method of 
securely fastening the treble hooks 
to the bait and after unsuccess- 
fully trying to buy some screw 
eyes such as are used on the "reg- 
ular" baits, I finally hit on the 
following scheme : 

I bought a box of No. IXtVi 
screw eyes and a box of station- 
er's aluminum eyelets. Then bored 
a hole in the minnow just the 



72 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



size of the eyelet and put in the 
eyelet until the ridge came down to 
the bait and drove it flush with a 
hammer (Fig. 1). I took a screw 
eye and with a pair of pliers bent 
the eye slightly on one side (Fig. 
2). Then put on the treble hooks 
and screwed them into the bait in 
the usual fashion. 

I used one of these home-made 
baits on my vacation trip and of 
a total of twelve strikes did not 
lose a fish due to the hooks pull- 
ing out. 

KEEPING AGATE TIP 

FROM CHIPPING OR 

BREAKING 

By C. L. Creutz 

During August, when on a fish- 
ing trip in Wisconsin, I had the 
misfortune of breaking the agate 
tip on a Heddon casting rod. I 
always use a wire leader in cast- 
ing, as it is very much easier to 
change "plugs" if the bass are not 
"looking 'em over" as they should. 
After a cast I retrieved the lure 
too closely to the tip, causing it to 
break the agate. Luckily, I had 




Fig. 2 






Agate tip 

Rubber proltctor 
Wirt leaafr 



another tip with me and had an 
inspiration to keep this one intact. 
Found in my tackle box (for 
some reason or other placed there 
several years ago) an Eberhard 
Faber rubber pencil eraser. Then 



the thought struck me, "Why not 
make a protector for the tip?" 
No sooner said than done. Took 
the eraser and with a knife cut it 
into about six or seven "protect- 
ors" looking something like Fig- 
ure 1. Took a small nail and 
poked a hole through from top to 
bottom of "protector." Drew my 
line through it and fastened line 
to leader as in Fig. 2. Had no 
more trouble and did not even 
have to watch the leader when I 
retrieved the lure, as the moment 
the rubber protector struck the 
tip I had to quit winding her up. 
Intend to have a couple of erasers 
in my tackle box for emergency 
cases in the future. 



A HELGRAMITE CAN 

By a. R. Harper 

The best thin^ I have ever 
found to carry helgramites in is 
one of these perforated aluminum 
cans which are designed to con- 
vert the ordinary coflFee pot into a 
percolator. They can be procured 
at any hardware store at from ten 
to twenty cents according to size, 




quality and material and nerve of 
the emporium you happen to visit. 
I have seen these in ten cent 
stores. 

Mine is about five inches high 
and three inches in diameter. It 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



IZ 



is perforated on the bottom and 
the sides, but the top is solid. Be- 
ing of aluminum, it is light, does 
not rust and is easily kept clean. 

I catch my supply of helgram- 
ites, put them in the can with 



/ 




some leaves, close down the lid 
and then hold the can under water 
a moment. 

A vigorous flirt throws out ex- 
cess water, so I can put it in my 
creel. Every half-hour or so I 
give them a fresh wetting. 

They have so much fresh air 
and water that they keep in fine 
condition all day. 



HANDY GAME CARRIER 

By M. C. Stark 

The illustration of my Handy 
Game Carrier inclosed herewith is 
almost self-explanatory. It can 
be made at a cost of about 75 
cents. The shoulder strap is good, 
strong harness leather, 1% or 2 
inches wide by 24 inches long. 
The end pieces are whang or belt- 
lace leather, 4 by 8 inches, which 
are cut into eight strips, 7 inches 



long, to within 1 inch of one end, 
which is sewed to the end of 
shoulder strap. 

Each one of these strips is slit 
for 4 inches to within one-half 
inch of the end. To hang game, 
make a loop of one of the strips 
and put the head of game through. 
The loop will slip down, holding 
game firmly. Two, or even three, 
birds may be hung in one loop. 

This carrier is easily slipped in 
a coat pocket and will hold all the 
^ame one man wants to carry, or 
more ducks than the law allows 




one to have in a day in Iowa. 
The game is kept cleaner and in 
better shape than when stuffed 
into pockets or game bags, and it 
may be shifted from one shoulder 
to the other, or may be hung over 



74 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



a stick and carried by two men if 
necessary. 

I have never been lucky enough 
to have my carrier loaded to ca- 
pacity. 

SETTING YOUR WATCH 
BY COMPASS 

By H. B. Schell 

Ever have your watch stop 
while out in the woods and no 
means of setting it? It probably 
won't happen the second time, but 
if it does, try this : 

With your compass, or by means 
of a stream or lake from your 
map, determine which direction is 
south. Then point the hour hand 
in the direction of the sun. Slow- 
ly turn the hand around the dial, 
keeping it pointed toward the sun, 
until the south comes half way be- 
tween the hour hand and 12. Pay 
no attention to the minute hand. 

This is merely the problem of 
using the watch as a compass, ex- 
cept it is solved for another fac- 
tor, namely, the time. 

If the sun is not shining, hold 
the point of your knife, or a pen- 
cil, vertically against your thumb- 
nail. A close examination will re- 
veal a faint shadow on the dull- 
est day, from which the direction 
of the sun can be found. 



A RUBBER TAPE KINK 
By "Nutmeg"' 

Jlere is a little kink in shaping 
scabbards and holsters for rifles 
and pistols: After wrapping the 
arm with a greased cloth, take a 
roll of rubber tape, such as is 



used in winding tires or electric 
wire joints, and wind over the 
cloth tightly, lapping slightly so 
as to make a moisture proof 
cover. The tape not only pro- 
tects the arm from moisture, but 
binds all together, so that the 
arm may be taken out and re- 
placed readily. If the tape has a 
tendency to stick, dust the outside 
with powdered chalk, talc or sim- 
ilar powder. 



THE BAIT WITH AN OVER- 
COAT 

By Paul Skoberg 
One never-to-be-forgotten sum- 
mer we were enjoying life in 
camp at Lake Augusta. We were 
well supplied with underwater 
baits, which ^had done their duty 
nobly when it came to filling the 
larder. But there came a time 
when the bass would touch noth- 
ing but floaters. Of these we had 
but one in camp, an old Heddon 
which was totally lacking in paint. 
The dark color of the wood 
when wet did not prove very at- 
tractive to the fish, but there was 
no paint available and it would 
take a week to get some new baits 
into camp. Meanwhile I did not 
intend to be idle. I took a piece 
of birch bark, split it pretty thin 
and lashed it around the bait back 
of the collar with a few bits of old 
line. Then I punched out a hole 
for the belly hook and hung it 
back in place. 

When I got through it was 2 
o'clock in the afternoon, a bit 
early for the evening fishing, so 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



7S 



I sat down on the bank to con- 
sider a bit. My partners returned 
to camp and laughed with glee at 
my homely makeshift, Cooney 
offered to make every meal for a 
week if I caught so much as one 




bass on it. The laugh was on 
him, however, when we started 
out fishing later that afternoon, 
for we returned to camp with no 
less than twenty nice bass. 

It you should look into my 
tackle box to-day you see this 
very bait with its original cover- 
ing of birch bark as well as an- 
other which I rigged up like it 
later with a few improvements. 
These bai^s have done business 
for me on many different lakes. 
The trick would work equally well 
with any other make of plain 
floating bait. 



THE ALCOHOL BLOW 
LAMP 

By Geo. C. Whitney 

About the handiest little kink 
that I know of is this little alco- 
hol blow lamp. It burns alcohol 
and one filling lasts a long time, 
as it has a cap which makes it 
airtight when not in use. It fits 
in the vest pocket or tackle box, 
costs about a dollar and can be 
made at home out of a piece of 
brass tubing, a wick and a piece 
of camera hose. 

It is operated by lighting, and 



then blowing the flame (which is 
very hot and clean) on the article 
to be repaired, at the same time 
running soft solder or cement on 
the work. 

It can be used to solder fish 
hooks together in gangs or tan- 
dem, temper points or weed 
guards, opening eyes in hooks, 
adding solder weights, soldering 
tips on steel rods, guides, cement- 
ing on agates, making small 
molds, melting rosin or cement 
onto flies, mending leaky minnow 
buckets, tackle boxes and a hun- 
dred other little jobs. And I 
saved the day on my last trip by 
repairing a puncture in the canoe 
with it by running hot ceiling wax 
in the hole over and under the 




E A 

canvas. It is always in my tackle 
box with a piece of soft solder, a 
little soldering paste and a piece 
of jeweler's cement. It is handier 
than a soldering iron and makes a 
much better job. 



76 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



A BOBBER WOBBLER 

By Joseph W. Boyle 
One rainy Sunday before the 
season had opened I was prac- 
ticing casting on the lawn. I 
searched my tackle box for a 
proper casting weight, but the best 
thing I could find was a small egg- 
shaped float or bobber. The wind 
was pretty strong and the bobber 
rather light to cast well. I was 
just figuring on adding a weight 
to it when an idea struck me. 
Why not make a real wobbling 
bait out of this bobber? You see, 
I had been reading in the cata- 
ogs about the new wobblers and 




I wanted one to try out. So I re- 
tired to shelter to do a bit of fig- 
uring. In a few minutes my wob- 
bler was competed. This is how 
it was made : 

On either side of the bobber I 
gouged out a fluting with my 
jack-knife, about an inch long, a 
quarter of an inch wide and deep 
in the middle and growing shal- 
lower at each end. Then I cut a 
narrow groove down the back and 
fastened a long-shanked Sneck 
hook in it. A bit of copper wire 
at the end held the hook firmly 
in its groove. On the under side 
of the bait I sunk a ringed sinker 
for a balancing weight. A screw 
eye at the forward end, located a 
bit above the center, completed the 
job. Total cost a few cents only. 



This bobber had a red head, a 
yellow middle stripe and a green 
after part, making it a brilliant 
bit of color. It dived and wob- 
bled very nicely and the hook be- 
ing set with the point up, made it 
practically weedless. 

A WATERPROOF MATCH 
SAFE 

By Charles Barton, Jr. 

I suppose all the readers of the 
Outer's Book have seen and 
heard of several dozens of water- 
proof match-boxes, but for an in- 
expensive home-made article mine 
should take the cake. The neces- 
sary apparatus consists of one 
empty brass shotgun shell, the 
smaller the gauge the better, and 
one ordinary cork stopper to fit 
the same.' Take a handful of 
matches, place in the box and 
close with stopper, thus making 
a waterproof match-box. To prove 
this I filled the case with matches 
and left it in water for three and 
one-half hours, and at the end of 
this time the matches were per- 
fectly drv. 



A BAIT IMPROVEMENT 

By Fred J. Schildhauer 

While out fishing on one of the 
lakes near my home, I got one of 
those "dandy" strikes. But the 
fish was a better warrior than I 
and carried off the tail gang of 
my artificial minnow as a trophy. 
I did not have an extra gang 
along and was wondering what 
to do when my eye fell on a 
feathered fly attached to a spoon 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



n 



hook in my outfit. It was short 
work to put this in place of the 
missing gang and I was soon 
plugging away again. At the 
close of the day I found that I 
had been the lucky one out of the 
entire bunch that were fishing. 
Apparently the fish had favored 
my patched up bait above all other 
offerings. Try this out yourself 
and you will find it a real im- 
provement. 

A LEFT-HANDED CASTING 
REEL 

By W. J. Baldwin 
The average left-handed man 
us>ng any regular casting reel 
places it on the rod in a reverse 
position from that used by right- 
handed anglers. In this position, 
using the left hand for casting, 
the hand often gets too close to 
the reel ^o that in making the cast 



Fi"q. n 




the balanced handle of the reel 
tears a bunch of skin from the 
knuckle of the finger. 

Having had the skin torn from 
my knuckles on several occasions, 
I made my casting reel over so 



that now I can cast without fear 
of torn knuckles. 

The enclosed sketch explains 
how I did this. 

Figure 1 shows reel as it orig- 
inally was. Figure 2 as it now is. 




To make change, remove handle, 
side plate, gears and inside plate. 
Turn reel clock-wise until rod 
screw hole No. 5, Fig. 1, is in the 
position of No. 5, Fig. 2. It 
will then only be necessary to 
drill three small holes in each side 
plate to correspond with rod holes 
A, B and C, Fig. 2. Then replace 
all screws in cross rods, gears, 
outer plate and handle and the 
reel will then have the handle in 
position shown in Fig. 2, in which 
position the handle cannot possi- 
bly hit the knuckles. 



THE EMERGENCY MATCH 
SUPPLY 

By 'Tug" Moen 

While on a canoe trip down the 
Wisconsin River from State Line, 
Mich., to Stevens Point, Wis., I 
came upon a hunting camp near a 



78 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



spring. I stopped to get a drink, 
and noticed some empty shotgun 
shells lying about. I picked up 
some, trying to get two that 
would fit tightly, to be used as a 
waterproof match box. I had a 
bottle full of matches in my 
pocket, but was afraid of its 
breaking. A member of the hunt- 
ing party from Madison was 
watching me and said, "Here is 
■my waterproof match box." It 
was one of those little metal 
boxes that had contained Gillette 
safety razor blades. The box was 
filled with matches and then sealed 
with paraffine, making it water- 
tight. It is very small, light in 
weight and quickly opened when 
needed. This is to be used only 
in case of emergency, of course, 
I think this little article should be 
in the pocket of every outer, and 
sometimes may save a life. 



snap and swivel must be placed 
between the single hook and the 
double hook. 



A GOOD FROG HOOK 

By J. A. Potts 

After losing my frog hook one 
day, I struck upon the following 
plan : Take an ordinary treble 
hook, such as used on all brass 
plugs, and cut one hook off. Next 
take a plain hook and slip the 
point through the eye of the treble 
hook. Now slip the single hook 
through the frog's lips and the 
double hook up through the frog's 
legs. This makes a good hook 
that is semi-weedless and will 
help to get the big ones. The 
hook can be used this way for 
small frogs, but for larger ones a 
piece ^f wire or, handier yet, a 



AN EXCELLENT FLOAT 

FOR LIVE BAIT 

FISHING 

By FivAnk E. Wilder 

Everyone, I presume, has gone 
trout fishing when nothing in his 
tackle-box would bring a rise, but 
still trout could be seen eagerly 
looking for some insects which 
dropped into the stream. You try 
putting some of these insects on 
your hook, but they are very deli- 
cate and after they have been in 
the water a few seconds the 
weight of the hook drags them 
under the surface and they look 
like anything but the insects they 
are. 

Here is a kink to make this 
method of fishing practical : First, 
take a sound cork and cut a small 
piece three-eighths of an inch long 
and three-sixteenths of an inch 
wide and of the same thickness. 
Round the edges so that the cross- 
section is egg-shaped. Now cut 
the gut of a snelled hook, as in 
Fig. 1, just below the knot. Soak 
the gut for a short time in water 
and then thread in a small-sized 
darning needle, as in Fig. 2. Bend 
the end back and run the needle 
lengthwise through the center of 
the cork. Slide the cork down to 
the end of the winding as in Fig. 
3. Unthread the needle and tie 
the loop in the end of the gut. 
Fig. 4 shows the way the hook 
looks when baited. 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



79 



Now all that there is left to do 
is to get your fishing outfit and 
go to 5'our favorite trout stream 



r 



C 



C 



■^Zh- 




where I hope you will try out 
tfiis little kink and come home 
with a good catch. 



THE LOOP WINDING 
PULL 

By Sidney V. Ray 

One of the simplest, easiest and 
quickest methods of laying rod 
windings so as to conceal the ends 
is the following: 

The winding is started by lay- 
ing the free end under and taking 
three to five turns over it as 
shown in Fig. 1. 

Have ready a bit of thread, 
either the same as the winding is 
being made of or, if that is too 
light in weight, a bit heavier. It 
is good policy to wax this bit of 
thread M^ith ordinary beeswax. 
Make a loop of this bit, lay it on 
the rod and proceed to wrap it 
under the last three or four turns 
of the winding. (Fig. 11.) 



Then clip the end of your wind- 
ing silk, leaving an inch or two 
free and holding the wrapping 
firmly meanwhile with the thumb. 
Insert this free end into the loop 
as in Fig. 11. 

Then grasp the loose ends of the 
loop, which should be long enough 
to give a secure hold, and, still 
holding the wrapping to prevent 
loosening give the loop a quick, 
snappy pull. This brings the loop 
out from under the turns which 
were taken over it, and with it 
the free end of the winding. Cut 
off both free ends closely and 
the winding is complete. 

Do not use the same place in 
the loop thread for more than one 
tie, as the friction of dragging the 
free end under wears it pretty thin 



1 V/ r,aJ 


/■ 


I 


:: . 


^ Fial 






1 '■ 


m . f'^-Bi 



and it is annoying to have the loop 
break just as one has nearly com- 
pleted the winding. 



GREASING DECOYS 

By ''Anon'' 

Although an enthusiastic fisher- 
man, it warms my heart to know 
that the hunters and other out- 



door men are 



gomg 



to 



get 



chance at that Kink Department. 
It never seemed quite fair to me 
to confine that interesting part of 
the good old Outer's Book to 



80 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



one class of enthusiasts. "More 
power to it!" 

The first kink that occurs to me 
is one that I am afraid' will be 
known to all the old duck hunt- 
ers, but I know that it will be a 
great help to any of the "crew" 
who are not familiar with it. 

Have you ever sat out in your 
blind, or hung on to a "clamper" 
when the thermometer is way be- 
low the freezing mark, and watch 
your decoys gradually, but surely, 
become completely encoated with 
ice? They look as much like a 
duck as one of the small chunks 
of ice floating near by, and if 
there happens to be a sun they 
shine like the proverbial pair of 
nigger's heels. Did someone say 
"ducks?" Absolutely no chance 
these days with an average of 
two hunters to each bird. 

How can you avoid it? Easy! 
Just give each little wooden 
birdie a nice warm coat of any 
colorless grease. Anything will 
go; from lard to vaseline, and I 
have found that it more than re- 
pays for the small amount of in- 
convenience, and they will shed 
water like a real duck's back. 



MAKES FOR ACCURATE 
STATEMENTS 

By E. E. Rowlands 

You know a fisherman wants 
to be accurate in his statements 
regarding the size of his catch, so 
in order to tell the folks at home 
just how long the "big one" was, 
I devised this plan last season : I 



took a small brush and some red 
enamel and painted small figures 
an inch apart on the under side 
of the first joint of my rod. It is 
handy, no weight and out of sight 
except when you want to see it. 



A PLUG CARRIER 

By Dean O. Smith 

I expect that all of us have 
had more or less trouble finding a 
satisfactory pocket carrier for 
bass pugs while fishing, as every 
person always carries several for 
a change of baits during the day. 
For quite a while I carried mine 
in their original pasteboard boxes, 




■■- 



© 



/!/' / /' -^ ^/ ^ /y / //■//^y / 



8. 



but these were bulky to have in 
the pockets, and of course you get 
them watersoaked, and when in 
this condition the boxes often 
came apart and the hooks at- 
tached themselves to the different 
parts of your anatomy. After en- 
during this for a while I fitted up 
a carrier which has given very 
satisfactory serrice. 

I procured a piece of automo- 
bile inner tubing about eight 
inches long and sewed one end 
of it shut, using heavy waxed 
thread. On the other end I left 
one side longer than the other and 
cut a buttonhole in it, sewing 
around it with a lighter waxed 
thread to keep it from tearing out. 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



81 



I sewed a button on the shorter 
side, buttoned it shut and it was 
done. I made my carrier out of 
a small tube and it holds two min- 
nows easily. If desired a larger 
tube can be used and a seam 
sewed through it lengthwise, di- 
viding it into two compartments : 
If you wish, the lower end may 
be vulcanized shut. This makes 
a neater job, but is no more serv- 
iceable. The hooks do not catch 
in the rubber or penetrate through 
it easily and it takes up less space 
than any carrier I have ever used. 



UNHOOKING THE BULL- 
HEAD 

By Jos. Gierisch 

Bullheads are such slippery fel- 
lows and capable of inflicting 
such mean wounds with their 
"horns" that taking them off of the 
hook is not the easiest matter in 
the world. To make things worse, 
they have a habit, when they take 
a hook, of swallowing it way out 




of sight. The following method 
will make the hook extraction 
comparatively simple : Place in- 
dex finger of left hand behind 
fin A in diagram and second 



finger behind fin B. This leaves 
the thumb of the left hand free to 
force open the lower jaw at C, 
while the right hand manipulates 
the hook. 



AN EASILY MADE LIVE^ 
BOX 

By E. H. Coultas 

There are many different styles 
of good live boxes. A very handy 
one can be made in a short time 
if you happen to have an old pack- 




ing case and an auger. Cleat the 
top of the case for a cover and 
hinge it with a couple of bits of 
leather strap if you have nothing- 
better. Get a couple of rough 
logs and nail one on either side 
of the box as shown in the dia- 
gram to serve as floats. Put 
through the spikes to hold these 
log floats, from the inside. With 
the auger bore holes in sides, ends 
and bottoms to provide for circu- 
lation of water. Put a hasp on 
the cover and the job is done. 

Just anchor this box anywhere 
that the wave action will not bat- 
ter it to pieces. When you want 
to take out your fish don't bother 
trying to net them. Just drag the 
box ashore. The water will drain 



82 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



out as fast as you pull it up and 
then you can reach in and pick 
out what fish you want with your 
hands. Set the box adrift again 
and the rest of the fish in it will 
be none the worse, of course, for 
their momentarv air bath. 



FOR BEE STINGS 

By M. a. Mueller 

Here is a Kink many of the 
brothers will be thankful for — 
anyway those who have been 
stung by yellow-jackets and bum- 
ble-bees, and as they are now 
ripe, this Kink will be in good 
order. Here it is, and see how 
simple : Get a bottle of Win- 
chester Crystal Rifle Cleaner and 
as soon as stung by a bee rub a 
little of the "dope" on the spot or 
little hole left by the sting. It is 
a good plan to first squeeze out as 
much of the poison as possible 
before applying. There is no 
danger from the use of this chem- 
ical and results are almost in- 
stantaneous. 



A CAMP REFRIGERATOR 

By Donald Duncan 

Hang a covered tin bucket from 
the limb of a tree. Take any 
kind of a cloth bag big enough to 
just slip over the bucket. If you 
haven't a bag handy, a few coarse 
stitches with twine in a bit of old 
burlap will make a nice one. Put 
a few handfuls of dirt in the bot- 
ton of the bag, slip it up over 
the bucket and tie with a draw- 



string. Wet the dirt thoroughly 
and your refrigerator is complete. 
The wet dirt will keep the entire 
bag moist, and the bag in drying 
will cool the contents of the 




Dirt 



bucket nicely. Drinking water, 
milk, butter, etc., can be cooled 
very nicely in this manner. 



A FISH BAG 

By Wilber Dowlin 

I have discarded fish stringers. 
I use a fish bag of my own manu- 
facture instead. I find it to be 
handy and humane. I take a 
gunny sack and run a hem around 
the mouth about one inch in 
width. Leave a slit in the hem 
through which to run the rope. 
Take a piece of slight sash cord 
about six feet in length and tie a 
knot at one end and run the other 
end through a seine float and then 
through the hem in the bag, 
bringing the end out through the 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



83 



slit and pass the end through the 
float in the opposite direction, 
then pass the end through an- 
other float and tie a knot in the 
end of the cord. The cord 
should be the right size to work 
snugly in the float. To fasten the 
bag draw the loose end of the 
cord through the float next to 
the bag. It is then impossible to 
open it from the inside. It is 
easily opened by drawing the cord 
through from the inside. By using 
this bag you can keep your catch in 
the water all the time. When you 
stop to fish a pool drop the bag 
into the water and the loose float 
will show you where your catch 
is at all times and you can keep 
it near you. When you are ready 
to start home fill the bag with 
grass or leaves and dip in the 
water. The filling will hold 
enough moisture to keep the fish 
alive a long time. In this way 
you will preserve the flavor of 
the fish. A fish should never be 
killed till it is ready to be dressed 
for the pan, 

A SNELLED HOOK 
CARRIER 

By a. F. Dresel 

I usually snell my hooks my- 
self, using tourndown-eyed hooks, 
and let the gut dry straight by 
hanging up with a weight at the 
bottom. 1 make a very satisfac- 
tory hook carrier as follows : A 
cardboard mailing tube of, say, 
1J4 inches in diameter is plugged 
at one end by a glued piece of ^- 
inch cork. The stopper is a bev- 



eled cork, cut through lengthwise. 
To the inside surfaces of the cork 
glue, or cement, a lining of felt, 
as per diagram, the felt forming 




J 




The. Cork 

S/p/it anc) 

/mec^ i/dh 
fe/t 



a hinge at the wider end of the 
cork. 

W^hen on a fishing trip, moisten 
the felt and place several of the 
looped ends of the snells therein, 
and they will be pliable when 
wanted. 



FOR GILLETTE USERS 

By Ben P. Lippy 

No doubt a number of the read- 
ers of Outer's Book own a Gil- 
lette razor and throw the blades 
away after using a short time, 
owing to the difficulty of having 
them sharpened satisfactorily. I 
have owned one of these valuable 



84 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



friends over seven years and am 
still using the blades that came 
with it. After shaving I simply 
strop the blade by holding it firmly 
between the thumb and index 
finger, left hand, edge from you, 
and rubbing the thumb of right 
hand over the edge on all four 
edges. Do not strop too much. 
Go easy at first and you'll learn 
just the amount. Try this and 
note how your blades will last. 



A TURTLE TRAP 

By Wm. Sims Bunn 

While the following kink may 
not be new to all the readers, at 
the same time it is worth trying 
for those uninitiated in this way 
of catching turtle. The plan is as 
follows : First get a rough board, 
say 12 inches wide and as long as 
the water and bottom justify. On 
this board nail a quantity of stout 
ringed hooks a few inches apart 




diagonally, and at the top of the 
board (which will be sitting in 
the water at an angle of about 30 
deg.) tie securely a chicken or rab- 
bit. In a day or two a gentle (?) 
odor will be wafted over the 
face of the waters which will stir 
up the turtles' olfactories irresist- 
ibly. • They will all answer the 



summons of the decayed bait, and 
will try to climb up the board, 
with the result that the hooks will 
catch them in the foot. By way 
of anticipating and brushing aside 
any suggestion that this method is 
not humane, I believe any turtle 
would rather have a hook in his 
foot than through his bony mouth, 
and that the above method will be 
the less painful. Have the chicken 
or rabbit a few inches above the 
water. 



TWO OLD FRIENDS 
By R. T. Ervin 

Take two empty wooden spools 
and drive either a screw or a nail 
through the hollow center into the 
side of a wall at such distance as 
you wish (ordinarily some five or 
six feet apart), so that you can 
stand and pass the line over one 
and then over the other, and back 
again without having to move, let- 
ting the line run off the rod onto 
the wooden spools. This spreads 
the line out, so that the air will 
dry it, and yet it never comes into 
contact with any metal substance. 

The other "kink" is how to tie 
the two ends of a silk line to- 
gether so they will not slip. Tie 
an ordinary single loop in the end 
of one line. Run the other line 
through this, and then tie a simi- 
lar loop with this end around the 
other line. Draw the knots tight 
around each line. Then catch the 
lines and pull them until the two 
ends are drawn together. It will 
be found that each single knot 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



85 



locks the other so that it cannot 
slip.* 

No doubt many of your readers 
have used each of these "kinks," 
but there are others who have 




not, and they may be of service to 

them. 

♦Editor's Note. — This is the well- 
known and efficient "Waterman's 
knot. 



JUST ADHESIVE PLASTER 

By C. E. McOormand 

Speaking of kinks, do you know 
that a strip of common adhesive 
plaster, or electrician's tape, 
pasted over a smooth steel or rub- 
ber shotgun butt-plate, makes the 
very best substitute for a checked 
one? You can't make it slip. I 
tried it on my old Maynard some 
five years ago and it is still doing 
service as well as the most ex- 
pensive imported butt-plate. 



A "REAL" OIL FOR REELS 

By Frank Harris 

Here's a good home-made oil 
for reels, and, by the way, it is 
also fine for typewriters, sewing 
machines, etc. It will not gum, 
and in every way is fully equal of 
standard oils at a cost that's next 
to nothing. 

These are the "makin's" : One- 
half pint kerosene, one teaspoon- 
ful good, pure olive or sweet oil, 
and if you want to be extra fancy, 
a few drops of oil of peppermint 



or spearmint, to kill the kerosene 
odor. 

Don't condemn this without a 
trial. You'll be surprised. "It's 
slippery as an eel." 



A WIRE GAME CARRIER 

By Harry O. Hanna 

All of us who hunt rabbits and 
other small game have often 
wished for a hand carrier, espe- 
cially after hunting all day and 
getting a good bag, as carrying 
eight or ten rabbits in a coat gets 
very tiresome on the shoulders. 
Most of us also have wanted to 
hang the game in the spring-house 
over night and had to search for a 
piece of cord or wire to string 
them on. Have found the follow- 
ing simple device very handy: 

Take a piece of stiff wire about 
19 inches long and bend in nearly 




Sharp Point 



a circle. Then take wooden han- 
dle from an old bucket bail for 
handle, as per illustration. Next 
put small hook on both ends of 
wire and sharpen lower hook. 

To use, run sharpened hook 
through rabbit's leg and engage 
lower hook with upper. 



86 



KINKS OF ALL KINDli. 



The carrier is very handy for 
the muskrat trapper also. Can be 
used with shoulder straps if de- 
sired. 

Brothers, stick one in your 
pocket and try it this fall. 



NEEDLES AND THREAD 
By D. Wiggins 

Many of us wish to sew on a 
button or a patch for ourselves 
when out conversing with the red 
gods. We usually find that nee- 
dles and thread have been left be- 
hind. 

In my haversack is a spool of 
linen thread, with the hole through 
the spool reamed out to a suffi- 
cient diameter to accommodate a 
paper of large needles folded up 
into a roll. 

In this manner the needles are 
always where I need them, and 
are not sticking me in the back. 
I always have one threaded with 
a good, long thread, as when your 
hands are cold or you are tired, it 
is a great help. 



ANOTHER PORKER 

By L. K. Harvey 

Here is a good dress for a bit 
of pork rind on a No. 4 Skinner 
spoon that has proven very at- 
tractive to the bass at times. Cut 
a wedge of pork rind about a 
quarter of an inch thick, an inch 
and a half wide at the base and 
two and a half inches long. Let 
it run to a triangle as shown in 
the diagram and shave the under 
side until it runs down to a true 



point. Slit the base of the tri- 
angle into three equal parts and 
hang one of these pieces over each 
hook in the treble gang. Then 
pull the pork rind straight out 




Side. View 



To)o Vlcw 




with thumb and finger and give it 
a little twist. This will tend to 
make it spin when in the water. 
This bait has caught bass for me 
sometimes when all others failed. 



RAW ONION POULTICE 
FOR SNAKEBITE 

By G. E. Whitmore 

Take an onion or several of 
them if they are small, crush or 
pound them to a pulp and use as 
a poultice on the wound made by 
the reptile. Whisky, if at hand, 
should be taken in moderate 
doses, and of course, a doctor 
should be sought as soon as pos- 
sible. 

Twice I have used — and with 
good results — the onion poultice 
on dogs that were bitten by rat- 
tlesnakes. I also know of two 
persons who were bitten by rat- 
tlesnakes and whose lives were 



KINKS UF ALL KINDS 



87 



saved by no other remedies than 
the onion poultice and whisky: 
One of these was a man of 76, 
the other was a boy of 12. 



THE TIN CAN RANGE 
PHONE 

By E. A. Crolins 

I think it best at first to give 
you a little history of ourselves 
to show how the kink herein de- 
scribed was developed. 

Several members of the Fort 
Dearborn Rifle Club of Chicago, 
mcluding myself, have been going- 
out Sunday mornings for outdoor 
practice. As the club at present 
has only an indoor range, we 
have selected a good place along 
the banks of the Chicago Drain- 
ag:^ Canal, just west of Argo, 111. 
ArgO' is a small town southwest 
of Chicago and can be reached on 
the street car from where we live 
in about 45 minutes. We are then 
compelled to walk about a mile to 
the range. 

Anybody living in Chicago will 
know that hills suitable for target 
butts are scarcer than hens' teeth 
in this vicinity. The spot which 
we have been using all summer 
is ideal as a range, owing to the 
fact that the engineers, when 
building the canal, obligingly left 
miniature mountains of clay and 
limestone about 25 to 30 feet high 
along the banks of the canal. 
These make a fine backstop for 
even the wildest shot. 

As there is no habitation or any 
place to keep equipment near our 
range, we are obliged to carry all 



the necessary articles with us, 
which means pack them about a 
mile. We have overcome this 
handicap very nicely as follows : 

Last spring we carried a couple 
of two-by-fours, three feet long, 
and a board twelve inches wide, 
one inch thick and three feet 
long, out with us on our first trip. 
This lumber nailed together, using 
the two-by-fours for legs and 
sharpening same, makes a good 
arrangement to hold our targets. 
We simply drive the pointed up- 
rights into the ground. When we 
are through we pull the whole 
thing up and hide it under some 
near-by shrubs until the next 
time. The rest of oar equipment 
consists of some paper targets and 
thumb tacks. 

Our rifles are .22 caliber and we 
use long rifle Lesmok or semi- 
smokeless ammunition. We shoot 
at 50 and 100 yards. Right here 
I wish to state that the 22 long 
rifle cartridge is exceedingly ac- 
curate even at 100 yards, and will 
penetrate our one-inch pine board 
at that distance and never even 
hesitate. I think that is pretty 
good for a .22, don't you ? 

Thus endeth our history. Now 
for the kink. 

This fall the weather has been 
very windy, and we found it diffi- 
cult and sometimes impossible to 
^hout loud enough to call the shots 
from the target to the firing point, 
even with the assistance of a 
small megaphone. 

One windy day, after all of us 
had strained our lungs while tend- 
ing target, I began to figure out 



88 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



how this difficulty could be over^- 
come. Suddenly I remembered 
the telephones I used to make 
when I was a small boy, out of 
two tin cans and a piece of thread. 
This gave me a hunch, and I im- 
mediately proceeded to get busy 
in the following manner : 

After procuring two tin cans 
about four inches in diameter and 
five inches long, I soldered two 
strong hooks, one on each side of 
the cans well up toward the top 
or opening. The hooks I placed 
opposite each other running 
lengthwise, with the points to- 
ward the bottom of the can. 

I then purchased one-quarter of 
a pound of No. 5 music wire, 
which runs about two thousand 
feet to the pound and possesses 
great tensile strength. The boring 
of a very small hole in the bot- 
tom of each can finished the job. 

The following Sunday I started 
out with the rest of the fellows, 
entertaining considerable qualms 
as to whether my field telephone 
would work at so great a distance. 
Upon arriving at the range we 
cut four sapling stakes about three 
feet long and drove two into the 
ground at each end of the range, 
just far enough apart to allow the 
cans to fit in between. The hooks 
on the cans of course encircled 
the stakes. We then' inserted the 
ends of the wire through the holes 
in the bottom of the cans and 
after threading them through a 
small glass bead about one-quarter 
of an inch in diameter, twisted 
them around the bead. The bead 
was placed on the ends of the 



wire to prevent it from pulling 
through the hole in the can. 

All that was left to do was to 
stretch the wire tight enough to 
clear the ground so that it would 
not touch anything, and we were 
all set. 

Much to our delight the tele- 
phone worked fine. Although it 
was a very windy day and there 
was considerable hum caused by 
the wind vibrating the wire, we 
experienced no trouble at all in 
communicating with each other at 
100 yards. Of course, it was not 
as distinct as a regular telephone, 
but by speaking slowly and dis- 
tinctly we could understand every- 
thing that was said with very lit- 
tle repeating. We found that loud 
talking caused too much vibra- 
tion and that a normal tone of 
voice worked much better. 

The total cost of the outfit was 
about 50 cents and about thirty 
minutes' labor, but it certainly 
paid for itself the first day. It 
not only made our juting pleas- 
anter, but relieved the strain on 
our vocal organs. 

One word of advice to anyone 
who desires to make a telephone 
of this character: Considerable 
care must be taken in handling 
this fine music wire, as it is steel 
and has a tendency to curl and 
kink. However, should you kink 
and break the wire, it makes no 
difference, as the damage can be 
easily repaired by simply tying the 
ends in a figure eight knot. Con- 
fidentially, I wish to state that we 
had four knots in our line before 
we had it installed, but it did not 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



89 



seein to affect the transmission of 
sound in the least. 

In taking the 'phone down, all 
we did was to unhook the can at 
one end and wind the wire around 
it. After binding the wire tight 
around the can with a rubber 
band and placing everything in a 
small cloth bag the 'phone was 
ready to be transported home. 
The whole thing is not very large 
and does not weigh over a pound. 



A KNIFE SHEATH KINK 

By Xom Moore 

I have seen many of the ordi- 
nary sheath-knives carried in the 
ordinary sheath, which is sewed 
along the edge against the inside 
of which the keen blade of the 
Tatro rests, with the handle usu- 
ally protruding handily. I have 
seen knives thus sheathed edge 
their way out through this seam, 
and while in my observation it only 
resulted in a lost knife or a dam- 
aged case, it might also easily 
have resulted in a damaged leg or 
a spoiled trip. My kink was to 
put two copper rivets through the 
sheath in front of the knife edge, 
one about one and a half inches 



Strip of old {_eU ^^l 




ie»n 



Rivels 



up from the point, and one about 
one-third the way up. If these 
are put through tightly they will 
keep the knife edge away from 
that seam, uninjured and unin- 
juring. I also sew a strip of old 



felt hat around the inside of the 
top of my sheath to keep Tatro at 
home, regardless of my position. 
For safety's sake and the preser- 
vation of a good knife, hunters 
should try these out. 



AN EMERGENCY ANCHOR 

By C. H. Baldwin 

Here is a kink that may save 
the day for some lone fisherman. 
Last year I rented a cottage and 
boat at a small inland lake in 
northern Illinois, and when ready 
to use the boat I found it had no 
anchor, and not a stone in sight or 
any weight of sufficient size. I 
discovered an old pair of overalls 
hanging on the garage. I cut off 
about two feet of one leg, tied 
one end securely and filled it with 
gravel. Tied the other end, tied 
anchor rope around the center, 
and had an anchor that held for 
keeps. 



GATHERING INFORMA- 
TION 

By a. L. Weaver, Jr. 

While talking to some friends 
(who are rather enthusiastic fish- 
ermen) one day, I asked, rather 
casually, if they knew of any 
good places to fish. In the course 
of a few minutes I had quite a 
number of them — too many of 
of them to remember, in fact — 
so I decided I must have some 
way to keep them on record. A 
file was too unhandy, so after 
much labor and thinking I finally 



90 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



"got down to brass tacks" in the 
following idea : 

First — Two pads of paper about 
6 by 8 in., one pink, the other 
white. The pink sheets I use for 
my fishing "dope" and the white 
ones for my hunting "dope." I 
use the following form, which 



barrel a fine polish. It seems 
cheap, effective and harmless. 





Pen-, 








A,Jc 


Itumbm, e* 


4»T» vo go 


-.iiU 


?,t.-l. 


r. 


•V 






ttuaovr of 


«»/» to rpturs *• 


- 










Humia^ 


«0<hl 


ri>lr 


■•41 


us 




oen*,*-*'^' 


ri«btiift 


- ^ 


m 




- 






• 


Klnf of tet« ««4>\> 


...!♦ 


... 










temrktt- 


r-j. .. 


^. »«,'<( 


0.1 


c 


ret.> ^'om 


f.U.. 


D*oV. 

















gives me all the information 
"right off the reel": 

This form with a small sketch 
map (if available) gives me all 
the information that I desire. 
These sheets are kept in a port- 
folio. This "kink" has met with 
great favor here among my num- 
erous sportsmen friends. 



A SHOTGUN CLEANER 

By D. Wiggins 

To effectually and harmlessly 
clean your shotgun, use the brass 
cloth used for straining milk. 
Purchase about a dime's worth 
and cut a patch of it ^ just big 
enough to cover the head of a 
cleaning rod with a piece of cot- 
ton flannel under it. Use a little 
oil on the brass cloth, and you 
will be surprised to see how 
quickly it takes out lead, powder 
fouling, rust, etc., and gives the 



A GOOD CARRYING CASE 

By M. J. Hewitt 

An old leather camera case 
makes a convenient carrying case 
for fishing tackle or many other 
things when on a trip. These 
leather cases pack well, carry 
nicely and protect their contents 
fully. Being made of good 
leather they are quite stout. 



THREE KINKS FROM ONE 
KINKER 

By Bert Richardson 

Did you ever shoot out a wood- 
en minnow and on retrieving 
find the hooks sticking out at all 
angles? Of course you did, like 
myself until I "got onto" this 
kink. I am not very strong on 
the explanation stuff', so you will 
have to watch the sketch if this 
gets by Ye Editor's waste basket. 

All you need is a piece of heavy 
tin of thin brass cut out to shape 
of "A," Fig. 1. Bend the ends 



^'A"/^ras5 P/aU 



Point of 
Contact 



around screw eye and secure with 
a drop of solder. 

I have found that this kink 
makes a wooden minnow as near 
weedless as it is possible to get 
them, as the hooks are always 
in the shadow of the body and 
presented right for the strike. 




Wil^S 


Wif^ 


n 


\ 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



91 



Also take notice of the bend in 
front screw eye ("B," Fig. 1). 
This gives the bait a wobble that 
is a wobble as you are always 
pulling off center. 

In casting spoons, I find that 
I need a little extra weight, and 
so adopt the following method : 



kind. Bend it in the center, slip 
on spoon, and insert shank (Fig. 
III). 

The next kink, which it requires 
a little more mechanical skill, is 
what I call THE kink. 

Would you like to have in your 
old trusty reel the casting qualities 





I purchase a few small dipsys, the 
kind with a wire loop in the ends. 
Straighten out the loops and twist 
the wire around the shank above 
the spoon. This weight balances 
the bait and presents your fly 
right side up the instant it strikes 
the water. It also does away with 
swivels as the bait will not twist 
more than a half turn and then 
drops back. Try this out in the 
bath tub, as yours truly did, and 
be convinced. 

By the way, did j-ou ever try 
to patch up your old spoons and 
find trouble in getting a lug for 
the spoon and shank? Well, here 
is the dope : Take a link out 
of a chain, the bath tub stopper 



found in a high-priced jewelled 
reel, minus the outlay necessary to 
secure the latter? 

Take off the oil screw cap op- 
posite the handle and solder a 
one-eighth-inch piece of brass to 
the top of cap and file off the 
edge to a nice smooth finish ; this 
will give you plenty of metal for 



^OngLnal dip^y 



loops slraighL 








Fig.Z 



92 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



the next operation. Next, drill a 
hole in center of screw cap, right 
thru the metal you have just put 
on, the drill to be tapping size 
for a six-thirty-second-inch screw. 
Top out the hole with a six-thirty- 



Chain 
Link 



now I can "shoot it a mile" with- 
out the old strong-arm work. 




Link. btnC 
double 




Fig. 3 



second-inch tap and that finishes 
the screw cap. Take an ordi- 
nary machine screw and grind or 
file the end to about sixty de- 
grees. Cut off about three-six- 
teenths inch of screw and cut a 
slot for screwdriver. Put the cap 
in place and adjust screw until 
it is resting on the end of spool 
shaft. The sketch will show you 
about all there is to it. I used 
this kink on my old $4.50 reel for 
two years, and it is still better 
than ever. The high speed of the 
spindle appears to crystalize the 
two points of contact, and in 
checking up my reel I found that 
the wear was only .010 of an inch, 
and this in two seasons of casting. 
I had a little trouble at first with 
back lashes, as the reel, when in a 
vertical position, runs very fast, 
but I soon "got onto" that and 



THE CREEL COVER FLY 
BOOK 

By Abram Ham matt 

The accompanying sketch de- 
picts a device for carrying flies 
on the stream that I believe will 
prove very handy. The ma- 
terials are a piece of leather six 
by 5 inches, a metal rod five 
inches long and one-eighth inch 
in diameter and a small spring 
the same length. 

The rod is heated and the ends 
flattened. The ends are then 
drilled with a small hole. The 
spring is stretched until the gut 
of a fly can pass between the 
coils tightly enough to hold it. 




the spring is then cut off the 
same length as the rod. 

The two corners on the longer 
side of the leather are rounded; 
this is to be the upper side. The 
rod is then sewed along this side 
aibout one-half inch from the 
edge by means of the small holes 
drilled in the end. 
The spring is sewed one-half 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



93 



inch from the opposite edge. The 
whole thing is then sewed to the 
under side of the creel lid with 
the rod at the loose edge of the 
creel lid. The fly is then hooked 
over the small rod and the gut is 
held by the coils of the spring. 



FOLDING LINE DRYER 

By Gerald E. Mull 

As a line dryer is necessary 
and those on the market which 
looked good to me were expens- 
ive, I set about to make one my- 
self. The idea of the dryer as 
well as the construction is very 
simple, so that anyone should be 
able to make one. 

The first thing to make is the 
axle on which the spool turns and 
which also holds the dryer to 
table, bench or wherever you wish 
to'^place it. This is made of stiff, 
springy wire, bent in the shape of 
Fig. I, and should be long enough 
so that the top of the wire will 
extend through the top of the 
spool. The part lettered A in 



Fig. I is to slide onto the edge of 
table. The twist in the wire 
holds it upright and is bent so 
that the bend will lie flat on the 
top of the table. 

The next step is the ends of the 
spool. These were made of ^- 
inch pine, 4 inches square. The 
blocks are cut to size and then 
each corner is cut off about }i or 
}/2 inch back, giving the block 
eight sides as shown in Fig. II. 
Next drill a hole through the 
center of the blocks at C, Fig. II, 
to allow the wire axle to pass 
through. A hole is then drilled 
in the edge of the block, where 
each corner was cut away, E, Fig. 
31. These holes should be the 
size of the wire to be used for 
sides of the spool. 

The side wires of the spool are 
made of copper or other wire 
which will not rust. Four of these 
wires are necessary. They should 
le bent to the shape shown in 
Fig. III. In making these the 
parts marked A-A, Fig. Ill, 
should be about lli inches long. 



F'gl 



Fig.l 



3)A 



I 



■ A 



U^ 



r.g.m 



El 



C = WcXsKCT 



y 



ZEE3 



-a, 



i ^i/i.J^^j:J 



6 



A. 



f/^'>ti4.\'rv////- y/^ 



C 



94 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



to make a good solid fit. These 
ends fit into the holes in the cor- 
ners of the end blocks. It is a 
good plan to make one wire com- 
plete and then cut the other wires 
the same length and bend, using 
the first one as a pattern. 

Aly finished spool measured a 
little over 8 inches long and 4 



ready to go anywhere. Very sim- 
ple and costs nothing but your 
time. 



A BAMBOO ROD CASE 

By a. E. Buck 

A great number of bait-casters 
are partial to a single piece rod 




^^-, 



■w. _J 



fjp^ 



:zx 



JL 



J) n 



inches square, and will take 15 
inches of line at a turn. In as- 
sembling the dryer the axle is 
first clamped to the table. Then 
the side wires of the spool are 
inserted into the holes in the cor- 
ners of the blocks and the spool 
sapped onto the axle. A small 
wooden knob may be fastened to 
the top of the spool to turn it by. 

If there seems to be too much 
friction between the bottom end 
of the spool and the bend in the 
wire axle, a couple of notches 
may be filed in the wire and a 
copper washer, which will just 
slide over the wire, slid down into 
them and slightly flattened edge- 
wise to make it stay in place. 

Fig. IV will give some idea how 
liie completed dryer looks. To 
fold the dryer up, simply remove 
the spool from axle and pull out 
the side wires ; lay the ends flat, 
side by side, and lay the wires 
and axle on. Snap a couple of 
rubber bands around it and it's 



for many reasons, but use the 
jointed rod on account of the 
difficulty experienced with the 
single piece in going from one 
fishing ground to another. I use 
a single piece bamboo and have 
been put to a great deal of in- 
convenience in carrying this rod 
about. So I have been trying to 
devise a convenient way to carry 
same and still go light, and think 
I have at last solved the difficulty 
in a very satisfactory manner. 

Take the butt of a common 
cane fishing pole, split it entirely 
across twice, running splits down 
to a convenient joint. Then slip 
in two thin ferrules that are just 
large enough to slip over the butt 
of your rod. Force one in as far 
as possible and leave the other at 
the end and bind with fishing 
line. 

A hole can be easily bored 
through the nodes or joints of 
the cane with a long bit like elec- 
tricians use, or burned out with 
a hot iron. 

A cork in bottom ferrule fin- 
ishes the job and you have a tight, 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



95 



convenient case that will hold rod 
perfectly central so nothing will 
touch but the grip. You can go 
horseback, buggy, auto or train 
with never a thought of your rod 
till you want to use it, and if the 
case is in your way in the boat, 
throw it overboard and tow be- 
hind on a string. 



THREE HANDY ONES 

By Donald Smith 

When casting for bass with a 
frog, haven't you ever come to a 
place that was made to order for 
a plug? The weedless frog har- 
ness is tied on so tight that it 
takes a knife and a few polite 
words to get it off. By the time 
the line is free your boat has 



the loop over the rear hook. The 
loop slips up tight and will hold 
until the line is all worn out. This 
loop is handy when you dry the 
line. The bowline is the best knot 
because it will not slip and is easy 
to untie if it is necessary, Lt 
comes off as easily as it goes on, 
by reversing the process. 

When you see a nice hole in 
the weeds you immediately cast 
your frog so that he strikes the 
farther edge of the hole. Now, 
if the hole is small the frog stirs 
up a lot of commotion if becomes 
sailing fifty feet through the air. 
Do you see the tall, rank grass 
lust at the edge of that hole? 
You will notice that it bends 
right over the edge. Just put 
your frog on the grass. When 





Fi£. 1 




drifted right where you wanted 
to cast. This occasions more po- 
lite language. Now for the kink. 
Tie a bowline knot in your line. 
Leave the loop about three inches 
long. Just put the loop thorugh 
the eye of the harness and slip 



you get ready give the frog a lit- 
tle twitch. He will jump into the 
water in a much more lifelike 
manner than the other way. If 
Mr. Bass is at home he will make 
one mighty grab and the fight 
will be on. 



96 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



When you are whiling away 
the time with blue-gills, waiting 
for it to get later in the after- 
noon, you will sometimes wish 
they would bite a little oftener. 
Just take that heavy underwater 
plug and cast out about thirty 
feet. Reel it in very slowly, so 
^hat it will go deep. Do this on 
all sides of the boat. When the 
blue-gills see the minnow they 
just follow right along to see the 
excitement. They notice a fat, 
iuicy worm and think they have 
gone far enough. If you are the 
owner of the worm you will have 
fish for supper. 



A HELGRAMITE HARNESS 
DE LUXE 

By E. H. Coultas 

Nimrod, can you hook a big 
husky Helgramite, cast him to all 
points of the compass endeavor- 
ing to secure a strike, and at last 
take him off your hook, and still 
have the consolation of finding 
him as mean and devlish, as anx- 
ious to nip your fingers as when 
two hours before you jammed 
your hook under his shell-like 
collar? I doubt it very much, be- 
cause this particular Helgramite 
will be as dead as a doornail and 
will have no more crawl in him 
than an Egyptian mummy. 

You simply cannot appreciate 
the good qualities of this brute as 
one of the very best live bass 
baits until you have given him a 
real chance to twist, squirm, 
crawl and bite when affixed to 



your hook. Why, Fisherman, he 
has the vitality of a marathon 
runner if you simply eliminate 
that "solar plexus" you hand him 
with your hook. Think of it, a 
natural live bass bait, as easily 
used in shallow as deep water ! 
A live bait equipped with a tre- 
mendous amount of kick and 
fight, that will actually goad a 
bass on to strike when his acro- 
batic stunts under water have 
failed to tempt the wary fish. 

On that very next "whirl" you 
take at the mighty bass, how 
would you like to have your live 
Helgramite so attached to your 
hook so that he — 

1st — Will be as active as if in 
his native element. 

2nd — Will live for hours with- 
out torture, unless you get a 
strike, and finish as strong phys- 
ically as when you made your 
very first cast. 

3rd — Will present the hook in 
the most effective position for the 
strike that is known. 

4th — Will never tear hook loose 
from collar in casting, losing and 
killing bait, perhaps at the worst 
possible moment. 

Listen, give a moment to the 
following simple directions and I 
guarantee that you will cast the 
liveliest live Helgramite (and one 
that will stay alive) that was ever 
on your particular hook. It is 
the strong, vigorous, active live 
bait that does not sap away its 
life while suspended upon your 
hook, that "turns the trick" after 
all. This is the cry of the live 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



97 



bait bass angler, and here is your 
salvation when you use Helgra- 
mites. 

Purchase ten cents' worth of 
elastics of a size in circumfer- 
ence that will slip easily over the 
butt end of your lead pencil. Slip 
one of these bands over the tip 
of your first finger of your left 
hand (if you are a "south paw" 
reverse the operation). 

Grasp the Helgramitc securely 
between first finger and thumb of 
right hand by the collar, bearing 
in mind to always hold him by 
the side of the collar, not with 
finger on under side of collar and 
thumb on top. At once press his 
entire length, right side up, against 
the inside of the first finger of 
the left hand, being sure to have 
the end of his nippers on a line 
with the elastic band. Press the 
thumb of left hand down on top 
of^ollar of Helgramite, and re- 
move your right hand entirely. 
You now have the bait held firmly 
and securely in your left hand, 
and though he may try to cause 
trouble it is impossible for him 
to nip you. 

Next lift the elastic band on 
your left finger with the right 
hand and draw the band over the 
Helgramite's nippers and head 
and well down to the shell-like 
collar. Once more take the Hel- 
gramite in the right hand, as out- 
lined above, and then draw your 
first finger of the left hand out 
of the rubber band. You will find 
the band has settled firmly about 
the collar of the Helgramite. 



Shift your bait now to your left 
hand and with right hand insert 
barb of hook between collar of 
Helgramite and rubber band. 
Push hook through as shown in 
the illustration, and then give 
band two or three twists by twist- 
ing hook. In tightening band 
about the collar of the Helgra- 
mite you will have to use your 




own judgment, as they differ in 
sizes. It should be twisted suffi- 
ciently to hold firmly, but not so 
tight as to buckle the collar and 
ruin bait. The last operation is 
to bring the point of your hook 
under and over the rubber band. 
This fastens the twist you have 
just made. Then you push point 
of hook down as far as you de- 
sire, slip the hook under his tail 



98 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



and the Helgramite, though mighty 
mad, is secure and ready to per- 
form his duty. 

I have found that placing hook 
as outlined above (also see illus- 
tration) gives best results, but you 
can readily see there are any 
number of positions you can give 
to your hook, as your own judg- 
ment may deem fit. The direc- 
tions may sound somewhat long, 
but you will find after a few trials 
that it will take you but a frac- 
tion of a minute. 

On a sandy bottom let your 
Helgramite crawl about as he 
wishes. On a rocky bottom use 
a small float, and personally I 
feel that in having a squirming 
and angry Helgramite floating 
down stream at a depth just above 
bottom cannot be beaten as a lure. 

In the majority of cases (I do 
not consider the class of people 
who like to hook a bass in the 
stomach) the rubber hand slips 




r.a X 



f^«V 



turn the Helgramite loose in your 
bait box with rubber band about 
his collar. It will not bother him 
one bit. 

Real, live, husky, active bait al- 
ways spells better luck. If you 
use the outlined method you simply 
cannot blame the bait. So here's 
luck! 



A KINK POLE HOLDER 

By Chas. Forsyth 

Many is the time you have all 
been on the creek trying to in- 
duce the juicy bullhead to taste 
the bait in which you so skillfully 
hid the hook, and oh my, how 
tired you would get holding your 
pole when they were a little slow 
about taking hold! 

You no doubt have set a couple 
of forked sticks in the bank (we 
all know how it is done), or tried 
to push the end of your pole in 
the hard bank and came very near 




up the gut when you strike and 
holds Helgramite safe and fast, 
and he is not injured a bit in the 
contest. 

When you stop fishing, simply 
remove hook from elastic and 



slipping in the creek yourself. 
Then when this was done you 
would sit back and wait for the 
nibble that was sure to come; and 
when it did come and you got a 
tremendous bite, your float going 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



99 



clear down under the water as 
though a submarine was hitched 
on to the lower end of your line, 
the dirt would suddenly give way 
and "kersplash" your pole would 
go in the water. And when you 
finally pulled it out, expecting at 
least a five-pounder, you would 
be minus fish and bait both. 

Possibly you had your pole set 
in the forked stakes. You got a 
"real" bite. You grabbed the pole 
with both hands and. Ye Gods, it 
was stuck. By the time you suc- 
ceeded in getting it pried out from 
the forks, Mr. B. Head was amb- 
ling off down the creek enjoying 
the lunch. Of course you didn't 
say anything. Just a few re- 
marks on the weather. 

Now, if you will make yourself 
one of these "Kink Pole Holders" 
and give it a trial, your troubles 
in that line will be over. It can 
be jHade for any kind or size 
pole. 

Material needed : 1 piece of 
heavy wire about the size of an 
ordinary .22 cal. wiping rod; 7 
inches off the end of an old broom 
handle. 

Cost : About the time it takes 
you to make it. 

Take your piece of wire, about 
18 inches long, so that you can 
handle it easily, and bend around 
a stick — a broom handle, for in- 
stance — in the shape of Fig. 1. 
Have the loop on end marked A, 
just large enough to slip over the 
bulge of the hand grip, if you are 
using a bamboo pole, and loop at 
B just large enough so that end 



of pole will slip in nicely. Let 
the loops A and B be turned in 
a complete circle in order to make 
it rigid and give it strength. Let 
the loop A lap a little before 
turning down to enter stake. 
Make just a little tight, then there 
will be no danger of it slipping^ 
off of pole. C should be about 
V/i inches long. 

Saw off about 7 inches from 
the end of an old broom handle; 
bore a hole in one end a little 
larger than the wire so that the 
wire will slip in and out easily, 
then sharpen the other end so 
that it can be pushed into the 
ground. 

You can slip the stick inside 
the wire and carry it in your 
pocket. When you get ready to 
set up, put the wire on your pole, 
push the stake in the ground at 
any desired angle and set the 
turned down portion of the wire 
in the hole as in Fig. 3. The wire 
remains on the pole and when you 
get that real bite, take hold of the 
pole gently and lift out of stake, 
then pull out your fish and string 
on the "Kink Fish Stringer." 
Easy, ain't it? And simple, oh 
gee! 



MEASURING BY THE ROD 
By E. B. Lyman 

This drawing will explain a 
couple of kinks, both of which 
will be found useful to bait-cast- 
ers. 

The place marked A represents 
a common rubber crutch tip which 



100 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



may be easily fitted to the butt of 
the rod. It will act as a buffer or 
pad while reeling in the bait with 
the butt against the body, and will 
also protect the rod to an extent. 
The angler who rewinds and 
varnishes his rods during the 
closed season, might try this kink. 



in the Blue Ridge Mountains this 
summer. It was late summer 
when all the minnow branches 
were low and the water clear, a 
condition that required one to be 
an exp-^rt with the dip net or 
seine if any minnows were to be 
landed, while we could always se- 




After the old varnish has been 
scraped from the rod, put on the 
windings, space them an inch 
apart for a foot or so above the 
reel seat. Now number them 1, 
2, 3. etc., with India ink, and 
varnish. 

You now have a convenient 
place to measure your catch. 



A MINNOW TRAP 
By Richard K. Wood 

Did you ever have a fishing 
trip result in a failure because 
you could not get minnows? No 
doubt many bait fishermen could 
answer this question in the affirm- 
ative. 

The methods most often em- 
ployed in catching minnows are 
seining, trapping, and fishing from 
the bank with a light pole, thread 
and minnow hook. Sometimes for 
one reason or anoth^er all three 
of these methods may fail. For 
instance, the water may be so 
clear that the minnows will es- 
cape under rocks before the seine 
reaches them, or chubs may not 
be biting This luck happened to 
the writer on a fishing trip while 



cure some minnows, we could 
never get a sufficient number to 
fill our needs and here is where 
my kink came in handy — and it 
may come in handy for you some 
time, too. 

We had worn out and patched 
up our seine until there was a 
real cause for a "discovery." We 
took an ordinary burlap sack with 
a barrel hoop in the mouth and 
placed it in the brook, obstruct- 
ing the way on each side of it. 
Then going up stream we would 
drive the minnows down by wad- 
ing and thrashing the water with 
a brush. We found that one man 
could get more minnows with the 
sack than two could get with a 
seine in the same length of time. 
They would dart under and 
around a seine but would enter 
the sack trap readily. 



REMOVING A FERRULE 

By E. H. Peckinpaugh 

Whenever I had occasion to re- 
pair a rod, removing a ferrule 
used to cause me lots of trouble. 

One day several years ago T 
broke the tip of my rod at the 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



101 



ferrule, and as I had only brought 
along the one tip it looked as 
though I would have to cut my 
trip short, since I carried nothing 
to make repairs with, and did not 
'ike to risk breaking the tip a 
second time by cutting it down 
and using it as it was. 

I had carried with me a few 
flies and hooks, a wooden min- 
now and a small piece of copper 
v/ire that I used to string my fish 
on (if by any chance I killed 
one). The case looked hopeless 
until it struck me that I might 
take one of the screw eyes from 
the wooden minnow and by 
screwing it into the broken piece 
1 might get it out. 

After drawing out the pin with 
my knife, I finally succeeded, with 
the aid of a straightened fishhook, 
in screwing the eye in. I then 
twisted the copper wire around 
the ferrule to use as a handle 
while I heated it. 

I\s> soon as it was warm I 
slipped the largest fishhook I had 



It struck mc that I had found 
^,^ way to remove a ferrule with 
the smallest amount of heat, and 
no chance of marring it. 

Since then the simplest thing 
about repairing a rod is remov- 
ing a ferrule. If the rod is broken 
I drill a small hole in the wood 
and remove the pin. After screw- 
ing in the eye I make my loop of 
wire and fasten it somewhere and 
pull tight. 

When the heat is applied just 
as soon as the cement is melted 
the wood slips out and you never 
get it hot enough to do any dam- 
age. If the rod is not broken you 
don't need the screw eye. 



THE CHICKEN NECK BAIT 

By C. E. Wakeman 

I will contribute a little kink 
that has helped me to get many a 
nice trout, and if tried by others 
of the angling fraternity I know 
that they will be well paid for 
their trouble. 




through the screw eye, with the 
Intention of drawing it from the 
loop of wire so that I might catch 
hold of the ferrule with my hand- 
kerchief and pull the wood out. 

What was my surprise to find 
the wire held like a vise, and a 
gentle pull was all that was neces- 
sary. I made the repair then 
without any trouble, and went on 
Vvith my fishing. 



The kink consists of a hook, to 
your own liking, treated with a 
piece of skin taken from the neck 
of a chicken after it has been 
cleaned for cooking, but before it 
has been singed. You will notice 
that this skin is covered with fine 
silvery hair. I cut this in fine 
strips not wider than one-six- 
teenth of an inch, and three or 
four inches long. I wind this 



102 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



spiral fashion from just below the 
barb on the hook to the eye, or to 
where the snell fastens on, tying 
each end with a piece of white 
silk thread. I then lay it away 
to dry, when it is ready for use. 
The silvery hairs will stick out 
all around the hook, and when 
cast on the water it makes as 
tempting a bait as any decent 
trout might wish to get his eyes 
upon. 

This kink may not be new to 
some, but I have passed it along 
and am helping to boost the kink 
department. 



DRIED HOUSEFLIES FOR 
BAIT 

By Robert Marshall 

Catch a quantity of flies in an 
ordinary wire fly trap. Soak the 
flies in sweet oil and pack them 
hard in a small butter mold. Let 
the resulting balls dry hard in 
the sun and you will have a fine 
bait for still fishing. By leaving 
out the oil you will al^o have a 
good bird food. 



A FROG SAVER 

By Dr. E. A. Chatten 

Every bait caster who uses 
frogs has had the experience of 
snapping the bait off his hook. 
Sometimes, when frogs are hard 
to get, this is doubly annoying. A 
good many anglers are probably 
acquainted with the following 
Kink, but not everyone seems to 
know it, so I give it for what it 
is worth. 



Hook the frog through the lips 
as usual. Take a bit of old line 
and loop it over the hook below 
the frog's lips. Bring the two 
ends of line back and tie in a 




square knot just between the 
frog's front legs. Carry ends of 
line over the frog's back and tie 
securely. The loop of line will 
take the strain off the lips of the 
bait and make it good for many 
hours of casting. 



THE CLOTHES HOOK ROD 
HANGER 

By J. E. D. 

Take an ordinary twisted wire 
clothes hook and slightly solder 
the place where the wires are 
twisted together. Then cut off 
the end of the loop as shown in 
the diagram, and slip a short piece 
of rubber tubing over each of the 
points. 

In our fishing camp we always 
put these hangers up in pairs. 




Solder 



Rubbtt 




The first pair should be put up as 
high as one can conveniently 
reach, one at either end of the 
wall. The next pair goes about 
four inches lower and the same 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



103 



distance inside of the ones above. 
And so on down the wall. The 
first man in at night winds his 
line from hook to hook on the 
upper set of hangers and hangs 
his rod in the fork at either end 
as convenient. The next man in 
takes the next lower pair. These 
hangers are also very convenient 
for handling the joints of rods 
that are being repaired or var- 
nished. 



A BACKLASH TOOL 

By R. C. Fields 

Many of you probably still have 
trouble with backlashes. To those 
who do, this little tool will be a 
great time saver. Take a com- 




r^ 



mon shoe buttoner, cut the hook 
off, pound the end flat and file two 
notches in it, as shown in draw- 
ing, and you will have an excel- 
lent tool for untangling those aw- 
ful backlashes. 



AN EMERGENCY WEED- 
LESS 

By Stanley Mendlick 

On one of my trips I found the 
bass feeding close up to shore 
among the rushes and the bottom 
covered with a thick mattress of 
grass. None of my regular weed- 
less baits got a strike, so I decided 
to try something new. 



I took the hook gangs off from 
a V. L. & A. chub minnow and 
with my pocket tool kit cut a nar- 
row slot in the back of the min- 
now, just wide enough to hold a 
1-0 hook rather tightly. The pits 




for the screw eyes were counter- 
sunk so that the eye was about 
half covered. I placed two hooks 
on the back and used a single 
weighted hook for a trailer. This 
bait worked nicely through the 
weeds and was fairly successful. 



THE TIGHT HOLSTER 

By ''Blisters'' 

Nearly every man who has 
toted a six-gun at his belt knows 
that by having a good bunch of 
"pants" above the cartridge belt 
the draw will be facilitated. An 
open holster must hold the gun 
snugly or some day — out flops the 
gun. But if the holster fits snugly 




and the belt does not hold it 
down, one is under the awkward 
necessity of grasping the holster 
with the left hand while drawing 
the gun with the right. Not very 
speedy, to say the least. Some of 



104 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



the old-time gunfighters used to 
tie their holsters down to their 
thighs by the muzzle, but one 
can't do much walking that way. 
A little idea practiced by my- 
self and perhaps others as well, 
is to nm a light narrow strap 
through the belt loop on the 
holster. Bring this down low 
across the thigh and it holds down 
the holster securely without in- 
terfering with walking. Try it 
and see how you like it. 



THE ALDER BAIT 
By Harold W. Greene 

When I saw your article in the 
March Outer's Book about the 
Fishing Kink Contest, I called the 
Littlest Lady's attention to it, and 
she said, "Why not describe the 
Alder bait?" The Alder bait is 
one of those makeshifts that you 
stumble upon while knocking 
about on the lakes and streams. 

One day I packed the cooking 
outfit and fishing tackle into the 
canoe, handed the Littlest Lady 
into the bow, and stepping in, 
shoved ofif. It's only a little 
stream, but very pretty, and the 
only nice one within our reach 
for the occasional Saturday after- 
noon and Sunday that we have to 
ourselves. 

x\fter paddling about three- 
quarters of a mile upstream, 
trolling and casting for pickerel 
on the way with indiflFerent suc- 
cess, we came to our usual camp 
site. The Littlest Lady laid out 
the kit while I gathered wood for 



the "Injun" cook fire, and after 
eats had been disposed and camp 
tidied, the Littlest Lady wanted a 
lesson in bait casting. So the 
canoe was hauled way ashore to 
give plenty of room, with no ob- 
struction on the bank. This made 
good casting across the river. 

The rod is a Jim Heddon and 
I had on a Dowagaac minnow 
when she cast, and did it well, too. 
But she failed to retrieve it fast 
enough, so the plug got hooked 
on the bottom. I cut it loose and 
she cast again, but let it overrun, 
and it landed in the brush on the 
other side. Once more I rescued 
it, and in a short time it was hung 
up again, so I decided to over- 
come this nuisance. 

I cut a young alder shoot about 
a half-inch in diameter and three 
or four inches long, notched it 
around about a quarter of an inch 
from the larger or butt end and 
with the end of the line bent two 
half hitches into the notch. This 
worked fine the first time, for it 
floated, while the bird's nest was 
straightened out, but it darted and 
revolved so in retrieving that the 
line was all kinked up into snarls. 

I cut the line about two inches 
above the half hitches and whipped 
out the kinks, then fastened the 
ends with a swivel between (illus- 
tration No. 1) to overcome the 
kinking. Then I gave the Littlest 
Lady another illustration in the 
art of placing the bait and thumb- 
ing the reel, and showed her how 
to spool level while retrieving. 
The stick dove and darted this 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



105 



way and that so well that I de- 
cided to cast again, and in re- 
trieving to show her a little tip 
work. 

Well, I placed that stick in a 
nice little hole just at the roots 
of a tree on the opposite bank, 



spicLious in the water, so I figured 
that must be the reason that he 
struck, considering the indifferent 
success we had on the way up. 
Naturally we decided to make 
that stick into a bait. 

The Littlest Lady was very itj- 



«k 



^03~A 



'mm- 



where some brush overhung the 
stream and made a shady little 
nook (you know exactly that kind 
of a hole), and just as I placed 
the thumb down hard I gave a 
steady upward tip motion while 
bringing the rod back to my left 
hand (I always hold the rod in 
my left hand while retrieving), 
which caused the stick to dive and 
dart to the left. Bang! A pick- 
erel struck ; and twice now I felt 



terested and brought all my gear 
to me. I searched through the 
mess and finally found a plug 
with a double hook put on with a 
screw-eye, which I unscrewed and 
put into the middle of the alder 
stick and had a bait something 
like illustration No. 2. 

I sure landed that "pick," and 
it was what we call a "whalloper," 
a little over nineteen inches long, 
measured from the rod butt to 
the third winding up. I didn't 
have the* scales along, but I'll bet 
that he weighed — well, if I told 




him snub the stick before I could 
get it in for another cast. 

"Well," says I, "that must look 
pretty good to him." So we sat 
down and talked it over. 

You know that the young 
shoots of alder are a dark bronze 
green and when the bark is cut 
the white wood shows up very 
distinctly. There must have been 
just enough white showing on 
that stick and it wasn't too con- 



you you might think I came from 
Tennessee as Dock Gushwa says 
in his article on "A Trip on the 
Kankakee." 

We catch lots of small ones 
here (Rhode Island), but never 
keep one under ten inches, even 
though we go home without any 
fish. A pickerel over eighteen 



106 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



inches in this locality is a whale. 
So now you know just why it was 
that wc didn't broil him right 
away. You see we knew there 
was sure to be a crowd at the 
boat house about the time we 
would get back. 

The little stick worked so well 
on that occasion that I decided to 
try it out again under different 
conditions and in different waters. 
I gave it that tryout in a pond 
about five miles upstream. On 
this occasion we took along all of 
our gear so as not to get skunked, 
but we didn't have to use any- 
thing but the little alder stick and 
I made a fairly good catch. Sev- 
eral times now I have taken my 
rod, reel and line, a swivel and 
the double hook to some pond or 
stream, cut an alder sprout for 
the bait and had fairly good luck, 
and didn't have to swear and 
prick my fingers untangling a 
snarl of plugs. 

No, I haven't given up plugs. I 
use them all I can and keep get- 
ting new ones. But now I know 
that when it's "go light" I can 
take along a spoon bait in my hat 
band and a double hook to make 
the alder bait and get fish with- 
out making the air blue over 
tangled baits. 



LIGHTING FIRE WITH 
WATER 

By Waltkr Rademaker 

One time when out in the 
woods I found I had no matches. 
Looking for my burning glass I 



found I had lost it. How was 
I to start a fire? I took a leaf 
from a tree, looped the stem as in 
the illustration and dipped it in a 
brook. The drop of water caught 





in the loop made a perfect minia- 
ture lens. This I used as a burn- 
ing glass. 

I first lit a cigarette with it 
and used the cigarette to light my 
fire. This may seem hard but 
proves very simple. 

A blade of grass or a bit of 
wire may be employed for the 
same purpose. If wire is used, see 
to it that all grease is wiped off 
first, as the water will not stick 
to form the neces.sary lens drop. 



A HOOK DISGORGER 

By J. H. Severin 

Often while out fishing a per- 
son will liook a fish deep and 
generally he finds he has left his 





hook disgorger behind or lost it, 
as I did several times. Now I 
whittle out my own. Just take 
a small branch of any tree and 
cut to suitable length. Notch 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



107 



wide end and cut incision on 
dotted lines, as illustrated. You 
can make these to suit any size 
hook or fish. 



A SPOON MINNOW BAIT 
By W. Hugh Sawyer 

Did you ever use an artificial 
minnow of the treble hook style 
with a small spoon attached in 
front of bait instead of spinner? 
If you never have, here is a kink 



are not hung so tight as in some 
other baits I have used. 

As for the spoons, I find the 
Hildebrandt Idaho size C the 
best. It works easily, is light, 
does not foul readily and is easy 
to attach and detach. Of course 
the tail spinner must be off of 
the bait, and the bait should be 
reeled slowly. 

This makes a bait that will cast 
easily and still not be so heavy, 
and bass seem to hit it when no 




.-i-i^M^K-^^ 



that may help some on your next 
season's outing. I will try to ex- 
plain how to do this and what 
baits I find it works best with ; 
also the best time of year and 
weather conditions. 

'The bait I think best for this 
use is the Shakespeare nine-point 
bait with the solid red for bright 
days and clear water, especially 
in August, September and Oc- 
tober, when all the rest of the 
fellows have quit the artificial bait 
and taken to the live minnow 
game, which I never follow, 

I like the Shakespeare baits 
best for this purpose, because 
they are a smaller bait and run 
better in the water, and the hooks 



other bait will get results. A lit- 
tle dipsy sinker fastened to the 
tie loop of the spoon helps some 
on a bright, still day, when they 
are not feeding on top and you 
don't get them with the regular 
under-water bait. 

In fact, I have found that on 
bright days, when they were not 
inshore feeding and all other 
baits failed and most people had 
got discouraged, then I would get 
out to the deep and put out the 
freak spoon bait with a sinker 
attached and make long casts to 
the edge of the offset and reel 
very slowly with an occasional 
quick jerk of the rod which makes 
the bait go in small jumps as 



108 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



minnows and crawfish often do 
close to the bottom. This bait will 
also get results in early spring, 
when bass are not very lively. 

I took five one time with this 
bait that weighed twenty-two 
pounds. 



HOME-MADE ENAMEL 
FOR THE PLUG 
By Jefferson Hines 

Is there a "plug" caster among 
us who has never tried out some 
model bait of his own invention 
and found that the greatest draw- 
back to the success of his crea- 
tion was the lack of a proper s^-s- 
tem of enameling the wood so 
that it is entirely waterproof as 
well as sound in color? Here is 
a kink in this line that the writer 
has developed and put to the test 
many times and found satisfac- 
tory: 

After the sandpapering of the 
bait body is done and the sockets 
are neatly drilled for the hook- 
mountings and the small screw 
eye hole is drilled in the nose of 
the bait and you are figuring on 
what to enamel it with, get some 
white shellac already mixed from 
the paint store. 

First of all, thin a little of the 
shellac with alcohol and "size'' 
the bait with it, either by brushing 
it on or by dipping. Let this siz- 
ing dry well (over night, say) to 
be sure it is well set. 

Now get Avhatever colors you 
wish for the bait, in dry form in 
either pigments or metallic 
bronzes. Mix whatever bodv 



color you desire in regular solu- 
tion of shellac. Use just enough 
shellac to the amount of dry color 
required so that it will flow 
smoothly from the brush in ap- 
plying. 

Mix the color always just be- 
fore the immediate time of apply- 
ing, as it is better fresh. Use a 
small flat brush and rapidly lay 
the resulting shellac-enamel on the 
bait in a smooth, thin coat. Hold 
the bait upon a large pin or 
sharpened wire stuck into the 
screw eye hole in the end. Hang 
the bait up for this coat to dry 
over night. 

Next day look the bait over, 
and, if not well covered, give it 
another body-tone coat. Again 
allow to harden for several 
hours. 

If desired to have the back of 
the bait colored or spotted with a 
dififerent tint, mix this next and 
apply carefully, either by brush- 
ing on or stippling with the end 
of the brush. 

Do not forget that these shellac 
enamels must be applied quickly 
and deftl}' to be smooth. 

Allow the last coat to dry over 
night and apply a coat of clear 
lacquer (by "clear" we mean as 
colorless as can be procured). 

This will set very quickly, as it 
is prepared in "banana oil" (amyl 
acetate), and furnishes a coat that 
is impervious to water. 

Be sure and get the lacquer 
brushed well into the hook and 
screw-eye holes. When the lac- 
quer is dry. the bait is ready 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



109 



for its mountings and then for 
business. 

Mountings and hooks may be 
removed from some old vvornout 
"plug" and made to serve on the 
new bait body. 

Shellac is only semi-waterproof 
and requires the protection of the 
finishing coat of lacquer. Shellac 
is used instead of oil m laying on 
the colors, as it is not softened 
and run ofif by the "banana oil" 
in the lacquer as the oil would 
be. 

The writer has experimented 
with many methods of coloring 
and waterproofing casting-baits of 
his own "get up" and out of all 
the systems this is the only one 
that has satisfactorily stood the 
test. 

A few artists' flat fitch-hair or 
soft bristle brushes of assorted 
sizes, not exceeding a half-inch 
wide, is all the equipment neces- 
sary. Use an old dish or small 
tin can to mix color in, being 
careful that the receptacle is 
dean. 



A KINK THAT SAVED THE 
DAY 

By Val 

Did you ever cast all morning 
and never get a strike? Well, this 
happened to me some time last 
June, while on a fishing trip in 
the Fox Lake region, near 
Chicago. 

My partner, whose name is Bill, 
and I were out with the birds in 
the morning before "Old Sol" had 



shown his beaming countenance to 
warm up the day. as it was some- 
what chilly. 

"Looks good to me this morn- 
ing," was Bill's first exclamation, 
upon reaching the boat landing. 

"Yes, the wind is right and we 
ought to get a few before break- 
fast," was my retort. 

After assembling our tackle, we 
started out, each of us going in 
opposite directions, using separate 
boats, I choose the left shore, 
while Bill choose the right and 
with parting words of "Good luck 
to you, Val," and a wave of hands 
we were oflf. 

I started in casting and worked 
until I thought my arm would 

Cut FtltrTKU 





svU vy»^J>'^'i 



break, trying out every inviting 
hole that was known to me on 
that lake on the left short line, but 
never got a rise. I was thorough- 
ly tired out and had tried every 
bait I had in my tackle book and 
was just about ready to row in, 
when the breakfast bell rang, call- 
ing us in to the "big eats." 

When I reached the boat land- 
ing. Bill was already there with 
his face all smiles and I knew he 



110 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



had a "few" by the way he acted. 

"Well, Bill, how did you make 
out?" 

"Oh ! not so bad. I got three, 
one a pretty fair sized bass, and 
the others will reach about two 
pounds each." 

Of course, my first question 
was : "What wind of a bait have 
you been using?" 

"A Hildebrandt No. 3 single, 
with Red Ibis fly tied on a num- 
ber 3/0 hook." 

"Have you an extra Ibis in your 
tackle book?" I asked. 

"Sorry, Val, but this is the only 
one I have with me, but you may 
use this one after breakfast if you 
like," Bill replied. 

Of course I refused to rob Bill 
of his sport, but right then and 
there I got to thinking how I 
could rig up a fly of this sort. All 
during breakfast, I had nothing to 
say, but was doing a heap of 
thinking, and while pondering 
over my coffee and cigar an idea 
hit me. 

"Bill, I am going to make a 
Red Ibis," said I. He laughed 
and said : "All right, go to it, 
but you can go out with me and 
we can use this Ibis fly I have 
in partnership." I told him there 
was nothing doing, that I'd have 
a fly in a few minutes. Start- 
ing for the veranda where my 
tackle book, net, rod, etc., were 
lying, I proceeded to dig up some 
red felt, which I cut in a "V" 
shape, one for each side ; my part- 
ner watching with wondering 
eyes. (See illustration.) 



After trimming the felt nicely, 
rounding the corners, etc., I dug 
again, this time for a spool of 
red winding silk, which I usually 
carry with me for emergency. 
Then I picked up a Mayer 
Weighted Weedless Hook, bent 
back the guards, and proceeded to 
wind my felt on the leaded part. 
Bill laughed, and said: "Some fly 
that!" I took it good naturedly 
and told him to wait. I was not 
through yet. Then I cut a small 
piece of pork rind about an inch 
long and also cut this in a "V" 
shape, the largest end being about 
a quarter of an inch in width and 
stuck the pointed end of the rind 
on the hook to make the feather 
tail. 

My partner looked at me in 
amazement and said: "Of all the 
kinks that is the best kink I have 
ever seen!" 

I attached this home-made Ibis 
to a Hildebrandt Spinner, No. 3 
Idaho, and told Bill I was ready 
for that big one. 

We started out again in sepa- 
rate boats and I covered the right 
shore line this time and Bill the 
left. With a parting remark from 
Bill to the effect that he hoped 
I'd connect that home-made Ibis 
to a nice bass and a wave of his 
hand, we were off for the fore- 
noon's fishing. To make a long 
story short, that home-made Ibis 
was the "ticket" and I connected 
all right; came in at 11 a. m. with 
four bass and one small pickerel. 
The total weight of the five was 
fifteen pounds. Since then I have 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



111 



made up several of these home- 
made affairs and have landed 
many a bronze back, as well as 
numerous pickerel on them. 



THE WORM WEED GUARD 
By Clark H, Gallup 

Trout fishing being next on the 
program, I am going to tell you 
about a hook kink that has served 
me well in my search for the 
speckled beauties. I have tried it 
out in the waters of Montana, 



brush and among the logs and 
snags. You can bet it gets right 
in where the trout live. 

If I do not get a bite I do not 
pull my hook back too rapidly 
when I retrieve, but pull it out 
gently and seldom get snagged. 

When using large worms one i§ 
enough on a hook. Start the hook 
about one and one-half inches 
back from the head of the worm 
and run it toward the tail, as 
shown in Fig. 1. Then run the 
point of the hook right into the 




Wyoming, Colorado and Wiscon- 
sin, and it has always done ex- 
cellent work. 

The stunt is nothing more nor 
less than placing an ordinary an- 
gle worm on the hook, so as to 
make the hook practically weed- 
less. It works so well that in 
small brush streams where the 
current is not too swift I do not 
use a sinker at all, but just let 
my "patent" worm guard hook 
float with the current right into 
the holes under the bank, in the 



center of the head, well past the 
barb, as shown in Fig. 2, and you 
have a weed guard that will work 
in the tightest place, if you do not 
jerk too hard. Fig. 3 shows how 
the same trick may be worked 
with two smaller worms. 



A BROKEN RING GUIDE 

By David Stewart 

It is the sad realization of many 
sportsmen that they cannot be 
sportsmen all of the time; !hat is 



112 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



to say, the outdoor sportsman, the 
kind above all the rest. Even 
those of our brotherhood who are 
well to do do not have the time 
that they want to themselves, or 
perhaps better, to the bass and 
trout and the enjoyment experi- 
enced in their capture. How 
many of us have not felt the an- 
guish of passing by a beautiful 
stream on a good day because of 
lack of equipment or time in 
which to get things ready? This 
has led many to carrying many- 
pieced rods in their suitcases 
while traveling. But even these 
require time to get ready. When 
one imagines every unused mo- 
ment an unused chance at some 
beauty of the dark water, any 
means of adding rapidity to 
preparation and still not hazard- 
ing the efficiency of equipment is 
hailed with joy and enthusiasm. 

The impatience experienced on 
numerous chilly mornings when 
cold-stiffened fingers made it hard 
to thread the line through the 
guides, led the author to adapting 
or perhaps transposing a device 
known for years on the family 
sewing machine, which allowed 
threading through an eye, without 
pushing the thread through. All 
of us know of it, and some, too, 
may have used the scheme in this 
application, but it is not widely 
known, and is too good to keep. 
I have only tried it as a two-piece 
wire guide (Fig. E), but varia- 
tions of many kinds have oc- 
curred to me. The form used 
patterns somewhat after common 



snake guide, but as the chief ad- 
vantage of this form (strength) 
is lost by breaking the wire be- 
tween the attached ends, slightly 
heavier wire should be used, al- 
though this is not compulsory. 

The means of making these is 
very simple. Phosphor bronze 
wire was used by the author, but 
German silver does very well. 
The wire is carefully flattened for 
^ inch (according to size of 
guide) with a light hammer and 
a smooth iron surface. A nail the 
size of the guide aperture is then 
filed off on one side (Fig. A), and 
the flattened end of the wire 
(Fig. B) is held here, parallel to 
the nail, with a pair of pinchers. 
With another pair, or the fingers, 
the wire is bent sharply to the 
left and spirally around the nail 
for nearly a complete turn. The 
unflattened end of the wire is 
then bent slightly out away from 
the nail (to avoid any chance of 
the line getting caught while in 
use), and the wire is here cut off. 
The upper edges of the flat- 
tened base should be ground with 
a stone or file to avoid the silk 
winding being cut, and the round 
cut end of wire should be finished 
' off a little, too, with a stone. 
Each part of the guide is made 
in the same way and is wound on 
the rod with space enough be- 
tween to let the line through. 
(See diagram. Fig. D.) 

One-piece guides could be made 
very simply with machinery, the 
guides being stamped out of thin 
sheet metal (Fig. F, 1) and fin- 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



113 



ished to suit the carefullest of 
tastes. With this style the guide 
might be belled to reduce friction. 
I have had to be satisfied with 
the regular form of tip or end 
guide, because the spirial type 
(also adapted from the sewing 
machine) does not work very 
well, because fly casting and bait 

Hvil T» kol^ >nH jWa^pe Wire 



T'l^ttened vive 







■jivewve Vov Cn«"P>«ce i3voV«n U»»»^ 




fishing in brushy trout streams it 
has often unwound, or at least 
tangled the line. It has been 
used, though, to good effect in a 
rod used for trolling, and has the 
significant advantage that one 
may take down his rod and wind 
up his reel without taking bait or -^ 
sinker from the line. 

I don't doubt but that some of 
Outer's Book readers, with more 
ingenuity than the author, will, if 
they try, find a way which will 
not allow the line to tangle at the 
top. 

There would, of course, be no 
need for carrying the fine parts of 
this type of guide too far. With 
the large guides of a bait-casting 
rod there is no need for this 
broken ring guide, and it would 
be folly to try to substitute it, 
but in the little outfit that you 
want always with you, the get- 
there-quick variety, it seems very 
likely that this should find its 
place and keep it. 



Op«h Uma Cuii^« V' ^^"^P o^ Troll I'n^M**! . 



A QUICK UNTYING KNOT 

By Philip H. Greeley 

The knot shown in the sketches 
is one that will be found very 
convenient in tying fishing line to 
bait, hooks, leaders, etc., as it can 
be untied instantly, yet, if made 
correctly, it will stand a line 
breaking test without pulling out. 
The knot makes a clove hitch 
that has a loop so that it can be 
pulled out quickly. 

In the sketches A represents a 
ring like the e^^e of a swivel, B 



114 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



the line from the reel, and C the 
end of the line. 

To make the knot pass the end 
of the line (C) through the ring 
twice as shown in Fig. 1. Then 
bend the line to form a loop at 
D and pass the loop (D) through 



my assortment of flies and never 
fail to take advantage of the op- 
portunity afforded for casting, 
where these streams broaden out 
sufficiently or are kind enough to 
flow through a brushless meadow 
or the like. 




the space marked E, as shown in 
Fig. 2. Hold the loop (D) in po- 
sition and pull the ring (A) and 
the line (B). The finished knot 
is shown in Fig. 3. 

The knot is confusing at first, 
but after making it a few times 
it is easily and quickly made and 
can be untied by pulling C, the 
end of the line. 



CREEL COVER BAIT BOX 

By W. H. Ford 

Perhaps I will be degraded in 
the eyes of the true trout fisher- 
man for ever thinking of any- 
thing to encourage or assist in 
the unmanly art of "baiting" for 
trout I have but one excuse to 
offer — most of my fishing has to 
be done on the narrow brush- 
bound streams of Connecticut 
where fly-fishing is quite impos- 
sible, although of course I carry 




If you have ever fished these 
"Southern New England Brooks" 
you can appreciate what I mean 
for here all the trouting hazards 
that I have occasionally seen pub- 
lished as originating with the 
"Pessimist" are present, and one 
is pretty busy manipulating even 
the lowly worm. 

The bait boxes commonly furn- 
ished are of two shapes. One, 
the Crescent, through which the 
belt is run, is a clumsy, unhand}' 
article which not only bulges out 
the coat, but necessitates opening 
the coat to get at, unless one cares 
to wear it with a belt on the out- 
side, which then makes a very 
convenient thing to catch in the 
brush and delay one's progress. 
The other is a sort of miniature 
creel shape, and is made in two 
ways, either to fasten on the belt 
as the Crescent is, where the same 
difficulties obtain as for the latter. 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



115 



or with a large blanket pin which 
may be punched through the cloth- 
ing on any part of the anatomy, 
which is not particularly good for 
the clothing. But the trouble with 
both these is that one can only 
manipulate two fingers inside 
them and this with difficulty and 
danger from being cut. These 
things always bothered me, but 
the greatest argument against 
them to my mind is that they are 
not convenient, and thereby re- 
quire too many operations or 
movements, a condition which is 
not to be desired when you are 
standing above a likely hole, fish- 
ing down stream as one usually 
must in this kind of fishing. 

Well, I decided I'd had enough 
of this trouble and got busy. The 
sketches enclosed, I think, show 



about everything except the ma- 
terials used, and this is where the 
beauty of the "kink" comes in. It 
consists of one flat type tobacco 
box, two large size brass count- 
ing house fasteners with the round 
heads removed : and the outer end 
of the main spring of an old 
clock (though most any piece of 
flat spring steel would do) riveted 
to the cover to keep it closed. The 
brass fasteners are inserted 
through two rectangular holes in 
the bottom of the box and se- 
curely soldered on 
the box (a rough 
enough to hold it), 
slip between the reeds of the creel 
cover and when the prongs are 
bent over, hold the box flat and 
tight to the creel cover. The box 
is mounted so that it opens away 



the inside of 
job is good 
These easily 



i 



h//- 

r^^ 



J 



■'^.6- 



u- 



1 - >-J»J 



o o 



r 

i. .J 



o o ° o o T 
A o a o o o -1 — 



T 



MW 



-«^ 




C/» 



Kr,< 1-,%' 



/^ 



^rcr^s /^fir/- ^ajf- 
, jj Crrc/ Cot^er /fee&j 






Crec/ Co/er ^o/Y ^a< 'A'/r>A 



^ijg S /J>/5- tyjf/ryt^ 



116 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



from the fisherman, i.e., the fast- 
ener towards him. Of course, the 
cover is punched or drilled with 
enough holes to allow for venti- 
lation. 

This done, the article's conven- 
ience is very evident, for after 
having dropped the last "catch" 
into the creel through the opening 
in its cover, there, almost in the 
same spot is the fresh bait for the 
next. I have used the first one 
I made four seasons, and have 
made several for friends who have 
urged me to do so, which demon- 
strates that it is not a mere 
"fancy" but a tried and true 
"kink." 



TO THE BAIT CASTER 
AND DUCK HUNTER 

By C. C. Kelty 

Here is a kink I intended to 
send you last fall, but it slipped 
my mind until you started your 
"kink Contest." While it isn't a 
kink to catch the fish, it has to do 
with tackle and has been of con- 
siderable use to me and may be 
to some others. In fact, a fellow 
gave me a big, round cartwheel 
for the use of it about five min- 
utes once and I decided then that 
he had paid enough to give it to 
the world at large, through 
Outer's. 

For two seasons I have used 
a casting rod, reel and line in get- 
ting out ducks I have shot in 
small inland lakes and potholes 
where it is impossible to wade or 
swim. The first year I used a 
floater, one with a tin collar and 



three gangs of hooks. But that 
wasn't very successful, as the 
hooks were too small and would 
slip over the duck at times. So 
last year I made three different 
plugs for the purpose and I will 
give you a description of the one 
I found the best. 

Take a piece of light, dry wood 
(I used pine) and cut it egg- 
shaped and a little larger than an 
egg. Then cut a groove on the 
bottom about % inch wide and a 
little over % inch deep and half 
the length of the plug, with a 
small hole at the end of the groove 
or center of the plug. Then get 
a large hook, 12-0 or larger, and 
fasten it in the groove with 
double point tacks, so that the 
eye protrudes for an eye to fasten 
line to plug. Then fill the groove 
and hole with enough lead so it 
floats nicely and cover with a 
couple of coats of enamel and 
you have it. Two hooks on the 
bottom will work better than one 
unless you have to use it where 
there are lily pads, and then it 
catches too many of them. 

In using this plug cast over the 
bird, holding the tip of the pole 
up. Then let the line down over 
the bird and reel in. Set the hook 
same as in a fish. If you should 
want to get a rod for this work 
and haven't an>1:hing against 
using a steel pole, the Union 
Hardware Company have one 
called Samson steel rod that is 
just the thing. It joints up short 
and has locking reel seat which 
locks on the lower band and this 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



117 



makes a fair grip. Pole only 
costs $1.50 and will stand all kinds 
of abuse. 

I use a Meisselbach "Tri-part" 
reel, and want to say I find one 
good point about it I never see 
mentioned, and that is that there 




are no screws that can work 
loose and let you cast a part of 
your reel in the lake. This might 
not happen with a higher-priced 
reel, but I mean for a reel of its 
price. The man that has a good 
dog (mind I say good) won't 
have much use for this kink un- 
less he wants the fun of it or to 
save his dog some trips into the 
cold water. If this kink finds a 
place in your magazine to help 
some other fellow that is in my 
fix (hasn't a good dog) I will 
feel amply repaid for writing it. 
I have found many to whom it 
was new and for some reason ye 
duck hunter seems to be a bait- 
caster as well. I am sure he will 
get much sport out of combining 
the two. 



NETTING AND STRING 

By "Kinker'' 

Brother angler, did you ever 
take along on your fishing trip 



several yards of mosquito netting 
and a ball of twine? And did 
their usefulness ever appear to 
you? 

Assuming you are off for sev- 
eral days or a week-end, go to the 
corner store and procure what- 
ever amount of netting appeals 
to you to get and a ball of twine. 

1st. Because when you get to 
the fishing grounds the first thing 
you need is bait, and in order to 
catch bait you need a net. A 
good serviceable light net for 
catching minnows, crawfish, frogs, 
grasshoppers or crickets can 
quickly and easily be constructed. 
Cut a slender sapling about 6 feet 
long and bend the top into a good 
sized loop. Cut a piece of netting 
of proper size so that the four 
corners may be nicely folded 
around loop, forming a net. 
Fasten corners by running a string 
spirally through netting and 
around loop of bended sapling. 

2d. Having a net, you need a 
minnow pail or cage, as the case 




^N ' 



may be. Take any pail, prefer- 
ably as large as you have, and tie 
a piece of netting over the top 
after the manner that a farmer's 
wife ties paper over the top of a 
butter jar, viz., lay the netting 
over the top and run a string 
around the outside about 1 inch 
from the brim. If it is desired 
to use this for minnows, crawfish I 



118 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



or frogs, a small flat stone should 
be laid in the bottom to help to 
keep it upright when in the water ; 
if for grasshoppers or crickets a 




few handfuls of grass is all that 
is needed on bottom. 

3d. If you are fortunate 
enough to catch several fine fish 
you surely would like to take 
them home to show the boys that 
you can "deliver the goods." You 
have no ice, but if you could 
"keep 'em alive" till you are ready 
to make your retirement all the 
better. Here you are as lazy as 
can be — keep all 3'ou wish as long 
as you wish. 





Set four stakes in about 1 or 2 
feet of water. String your mo- 
squito netting around these just 
as though you were building a 



chicken yard at home. Be sure 
that the netting goes well to bot- 
tom and projects out of the water 
about 1 foot. Tie the netting to 
stakes at top with twine ; place 
long, heavy stones on edge of net- 
ting all along bottom. Thus a fish 
pen is built. Throw in all you 
wish. Should you wish to re- 
move them, use the net already 
made. Such a pen should never 
be built on mud bottom, A 
branch or two laid over the top 
will help to keep off the sun's 
rays, which makes fish more com- 
fortable, 

4th, While dreaming over 
those bronze backs down in the 
pen that you will kill in the morn- 
ing to take home and show the 
boys, it will add to your comfort 
and the tranquility of the night 
if you throw that last piece of 
netting over your face to keep off 
those malaria distributors, in or- 
der that you may retain good 
health to return with a few more 
yards of fresh netting and an- 
other ball of twine. 



FOR FLOATING LIVE BAIT 

By Fred R, Semenetz 

A few fishermen realize that 
wall-eyed pike and black bass are 
as ready to feed at night as in the 
daytime. I have met with great 
success during the months of 
August, September and October, 
and most of my fishing was done 
at night. I have found that wall- 
eyes will strike at angleworms 
much quicker than at any other 
bait that I have used, though I 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



119 



have caught the wall-eyes by feed- 
ing them live minnows also. 

The accompanying cuts will 
show the method I use in working 
my kink. Fig. 1 shows line in 
proper fold. I use common small 
corks, cut about half-way in the 



center. Fold line in the cut corks, 
using three corks, and if neces- 
sary, four. You will find that 
when the bass strikes, the corks 
will fall off, leaving the line free 
for play. The distance between 
first cork and leader is from 12 



to 15 inches and from the second 
and third the same. If you use 
minnow be sure to hook him 
under the top fin ; care must be 
taken to avoid piercing the back- 
bone. In using angleworms for 
wall-eye, place the worms so that 



you can hook the worm twice ; 
use at least ten or twelve worms, 
so as to make a big mass (see 
Fig. 2). Be sure to strike fast 
or you will lose the game. 

I have given this kink to many 
brother fishermen and invariably ^ 




it has brought good results. 

My advice to those who 
are troubled with a weak 
heart or are given to 
"nerves" is to refrain from 
fishing for the elusive wall- 
eye or the fighting bass at night, 
for when you are lucky enough to 
get a strike from a four or five- 
pound wall-eye or bass it is as 
if you had received a kick from a 
mule. The suddden fright is dis- 
concerting in the extreme. Those 




who are in the habit of fishing at 
night for these fish can verify 
this statement. 

When I had my first experience 
at night fishing I was fifteen years 
of age. It was also my introduc- 
tion to the "floating bait," and 
that night will remain a redletter 
night in my memory. Father and 
I started up the Cedar River (in 
Iowa, at Linwood, above Cedar 
Rapids) on the night of the 23rd 



120 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



of October, 1888, about 9 :30. We 
reached the fishing grounds about 
10:30. I baited father's line with 
a live cnub minnow and started 
it down stream. To this day I 
can't remember the exact length 
of line I had out, but it did not 
seem to be over fifteen or twenty 
feet. Suddenly something hap- 
pened ; I realized that I had a 
strike, and I struck simultaneously 
with Mr. Bass. Excitement ran 
riot in the boat. I knocked over 
the minnow pail, also the lantern, 
putting it out. Father came to 
the rescue by getting the anchor 
in the boat and put inshore. After 
pulling and tugging with this sav- 
age fish for over twenty minutes, 
I finally brought him to shore. 
Father scooped him up with the 
dip net and into the boat. The 
bass weighed 5^ pounds. That 
was all the fishing I wanted for 
that night. Father had better suc- 
cess as the night progressed, land- 
ing three more bass, of 2^, 35^ 
and 2 lbs. weight, respectively. 
Father accused me of having been 
frightened out of ten years' 
growth. 

I have great confidence in the 
Cincinnati bass hook, and I have 
used it continuously and have 
landed some big bass with its aid. 
Some of the striped bass have 
weighed as high as 28 lbs. 

I have used the cork floats in 
fishing in Nevada, on the Truckee 
River, where it was impossible to 
get within forty feet of the 
"holes." I used four or five corks 
and floated my fly or bait down 



the riffles to the deep holes. I 
landed some trout that would do 
credit to any fisherman. 

I have used the cork float on \ 
other rivers in California and 
have been usually successful at 
Tiburon, using in this instance 
clams and sardines as bait. 

Black bass strike at different 
baits at different times of season, 
helgramites, soft shell crawfish, 
angleworms, minnows, flies, 
spoons, grasshoppers — all have 
their turn. Bass are like human 
beings in that they know the kind 
of food they prefer, and giving 
them food out of season is com- 
parable to giving a chap who goes 
into a restaurant and orders corn 
beef and cabbage, mush and milk. 



CRAWFISH AND CANDY 

By Holland Greer 

When I was a boy of twelve, I 
was a great lover of what we 
now call crawfish. 

Many a day I would play 
truant from school. Going down 
by the old creek I would sit on 
the bank and fish for those mis- 
chievous "devils" for hours at a 
time. Often I had little or no suc- 
cess. In those days about the 
best method of catching crawfish 
was to tie a piece of fat pork on 
the end of a string, let the pork 
end of the string sink to the bot- 
tom and then wait for results. 

This was very tiresome, and at 
times caused me to go home in 
disgust, and get the usual ha, ha. 
Realizing that the pork and string 
idea was on the bum, I began to 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



121 



think up a new scheme of my 
own. 

Early one morning I decided to 
try my new scheme out, I went 
down to the grocery and bought 
five cents' worth of this old-style 
stick peppermint candy. I tied 
the candy on the string and sent 
it to the bottom. When I raised 
it up out of the water there were 
about ten crawfish hanging on, 
and before sundown I had about 
300 of those devils. 

Crawfish certainly love candy. 
Try it! 

A BAIT BELT 

By F. J. MiNCK 

The question of carrying my 
artificial lures for bass fishing has 
always been a problem until I hit 
upon the idea of carrying them 
in the tin boxes that Prince Al- 
bert and Velvet tobacco came in. 
These boxes are fine, as the lid is 
hinged on and the lures fit just 
snug enough so that they do not 
rattle, which also saves the enamel 
on them. By pressing the ends 
of these tins the middle will 
bulge a little and you can easily 
slip in the lure, even if it's a 
little snug. The Prince Albert tin 
will hold almost any of the under- 
water lures for bass, also some 
of the surface lures. The Velvet 
tin is a little bigger, but not quite 
so deep, and will easily hold such 
lures as the Decker surface. 

I have six of these tins fastened 
on a leather belt which I wear 
around my waist when fishing 
(Fig. A). I wear a thirty-four 



belt, so of course a man that 
wears a forty-four might be able 
to fasten on another half dozen. 
It is very simple to make, and 
costs but little. Get a fifty-cent 
belt and two copper rivets with 
washers for each tin. The tins 
won't cost you anything, as you 
can get them from friends if you 
don't smoke. I think my belt cost 
me about seventy-five cents, all 
told. 

Now, punch a hole near both 
sides of each tin on the back by 
first putting a piece of board that 
fits the box snug and hammering 
a nail of the right size thru. Then 
cut holes in your belt to corre- 
spond with holes in the tin. Take 




U U U U U U A 



B 



your rivet (these should have a 
flat head), and insert, them thru 
the tin first ; then thru the belt. 
Slip washer over end of rivet and 
hammer head on rivet by using 
a piece of iron inside of tin so 
that you won't bend tin while 
hammering head on rivet Or you 
can use very small bolts which 
have a thread the whole length, 
and screw on the nut. You can 
buy these at any hardware store. 
Fasten the tins about two inches 
apart on the belt, which allows 
you space to fold it up and also 
lets it fit better around the waist. 
For my larger lures such as wob- 



122 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



biers and surface baits with a col- 
lar, I use a one-half pound Prince 
Albert tin (Fig. B). I take two 
pieces of tin or heavy cardboard 
and cut them the length and width 
of the inside of the tobacco tin. 
Now slit each piece half way to 
the middle (Fig. C-C). Then slip 
them together so that the slit of 
one fits into the slit of the other, 
and slip into the tin, making four 
compartments which are large 
enough for any artificial lure. 
Have the ends of tin or card- 
board straight, so they will fit 
snug in the bottom of tobacco tin, 
but do not fasten, which allows 
you to bend the sides a little either 
way if necessary. You can fasten 
the lid on this box by making a 
hinge of wire. This box fits in 
my pocket or I carry it in my 
creel. 



A PICK-UP KINK 

By Clarence Graham 

One day I was fishing from the 
end of a log overhanging the 
creek. I took out my knife to cut 
some bait and when through with 
very necessary operation, stuck 
the knife in the log beside me. 



the small end for about six inches 
back. Then I forced a small stick 
down into the split so as to hold 
it apart. After that it was a sim- 
ple matter to shove the stick 
down over the knife. The small 
stick fell out as soon as the knife 
was forced back far enough and 
the spring of the wood held the 
knife strongly. By means of this 
kink a fellow could pick up a rod 
or almost any kind of an object 
that had fallen into the water. 



THE SLIDING FLOAT FOR 
BAIT CASTERS 

By C T. Winston 

Did you ever fish a small stream 
with low, overhanging branches 
all along and want to place your 
minnow into a likely looking spot 
on the other side, and find that 
most of the time you caught a 
bunch of leaves, or when you did 
miss them you couldn't cast half 
way across? Well, I have, and 
to get my bait across I worked 
out the following: 

An attachment on the float 
which lets it rest just above the 
sinker when the cast is being 
made, thereby placing all the 



^ 



Shortly afterward I hooked a nice 
fish and in landing it knocked my 
knife into the water. The knife 
was a good one and I didn't like 
to lose it. The water was nearly 
ten feet deep and very clear. 
With my belt axe I cut a pole 
about twelve feet long and split 



weight practically at one spot, then 
lets the bait and sinker drop to a 
pre-determined depth. To make 
the outfit procure an oval cork 
float about one inch diameter by 
four inches long (the short, thick 
ones or the very slender ones will 
not work) and some "Gem" pa- 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



123 



per clips. Straighten a clip and 
make a loop about 3-16-inch or 
^-inch diameter in end. Then 
wrap wire tightly around stick in 
end of float a couple of times and 
cut off. Repeat operation on 
other end of stick and float is 
ready. The rings must be far 
enough from stick to prevent the 
line from touching side of float 
(see sketch). Now make up a 
dozen or so of rings about 5-16 
inch inside diameter of the same 
material as used for guides on 



C 



just above bait, lower rod to hori- 
zontal position and snap it out. 

In lake fishing this kink keeps 
the minnow from getting away 
down in the weeds and hiding 
from the big fellows. 




ortS 



float. A lead pencil makes a fine 
former for this. Make a turn and 
a half around pencil, letting wire 
touch all around. Allow the ends 
to project slightly, which will 
make it easier to insert line. 

The paper clips are somewhat 
springy and do not rust easily, 
and I believe are better than cop- 
per wire. To use outfit run line 
through a ring and force it be- 
tween turns at depth wanted, slip 
on float and place another ring 
just above end of line. Attach 
sinker of proper weight just be- 
low this line and then the hook. 

Bait hook, reel up line until up- 
per ring touches tip of rod, grasp 
line between thumb and finger 



A PERMANENT REEL 
FILLING 

By Grant R. Lynch 

Everyone knows that the size 
of reel most used and suitable 
for bait-casting carries more line 

VINE NVUST GWtN9v?V<5KT 
/HERE 




of the size we want to use than 
is necessary in fishing. Nearly 
every one uses 150 feet and puts 
a core of old line on the reel. Of 
course that will do, but every time 
the line is used the old as well as 
the new line must be dried. If the 
new is only dried and then wound 
on over the wet line it is nearly 
as bad as not drying at all. The 
moisture comes through and rots 
the good line. For those who 
fish only once a year, line drying 
is no bother, but for those who 
average as much fishing as I 
(once every three days from 
opening day until ice) line drying 
is a bother to be cut as short as 
possible. 



124 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



Corks may be split and shoved 
over the spindle of the reel, but 
require fitting and fussing with to 
get a good neat job. I overcome 
the difficulty by winding on the 
good line and then filling the 
reel with common cord or old 
line. Then I unwind and wind 
on the cord or old line smoothly 
next to the spindle. Before this 
I buy at the drug store some ^-in. 
adhesive plaster and a small bot- 
tle of alc^>hol shellac. From the 
plaster I cut three strips long 
enough to go around the core of 
twine on the reel and lap ^ or 
Yi inch. I put one strip around 
the core at each side of the reel 
and let it lap up about 1/64 of an 
inch on the sides. The other strip 
I put right in the center of the 
spool and it overlaps the two 
side ones. Then I coat this care- 
fully with the shellac and after 
an hour or so give it another 
coat. That makes a good solid 
waterproof core, but it can be re- 
moved or changed with little or 
no trouble. A coat of shellac 
can be applied at any time and 
makes it good as new. This can 
be done just as easily on a solid 
reel as on a take down model 
without taking anj^hing apart for 
fitting. 

Now just a word on saving a 
little work when drying lines. 
Any hardware store will sell you 
enough brass screw hooks for 5c 
to rig up a good outfit. Select 
hooks without sharp points. Find 
in your home a space between two 
doors or windows on the same 



wall and screw in a hook on the 
casing of each. If you are using 
more than one line, set a pair of 
hooks for each one. My win- 
dows are in a hallway eighteen 
feet apart and it takes only a few 
turns back and forth to wind a 
line on or off the reel. The hooks 
are not unsightly and if made of 
small stock will hardly show a 
mar on the wood when necessary 
to take them out. I generally 
use a light and a heavy rod and 
my wife usually fishes with me, so 
I have three sets of drying hooks, 
and every time I use them I smile 
to think of the miles I used to 
walk around chairs and other fool 
things drying lines. 



TROLLING FOR CALICOES 

By Ira Dintaman 

Here is a kink that the brothers 
will find handy when trolling for 
the Calico, Strawberry or White 
Bass. Take any kind of a rod up- 
wards of nine feet long (the 
longer the better), and swing out 
your line a foot or eighteen inches 
longer than the rod. Attach your 
sinker about four feet from the 
end of the rod. Use a No. 20 
Cincinnati bass hook. For bait 
cut about an inch and a half from 
the tail end of a small perch or 
blue gill. Split this lengthwise 
so as to leave one-half of the tail 
fin on each piece. Run the hook 
through the larger end of the 
piece. Now you are ready to 
troll. 

Set your rod across your knees 
so that it reaches up and back at 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



125 



an angle of about 20 degrees or 
the pitch of an ordinary shed 
roof. The lead sinker should be 
about six or eight inches above 
the surface of the water, causing 
the line to hang straight down. 
This is one of the chiefest rea- 
sons for the success of this kink. 
Row slowly along near the edge 
of the weeds. When the fish 
strikes he first takes up the slack 
that the hanging lead gives him 
and by the time this is gone he 



not wear out more than eight or 
nine tails for bait. One can also 
employ angleworms as bait in the 
same manner, hooking the worms 
but once through the middle of 
the body. The boat should be 
moved along very slowly, just ^ 
keeping the bait in motion. A 
paddle can be profitably used in 
place of oars and two people can 
readily fish from the same boat 
by this method, with equal 
success. 




A FISH SAVER 

By L. J. BOUGHNER 

Slip into your tackle box a piece 
of shoemaker's wax the size of a 
hazelnut and half a dozen feet 
of silk thread. When ready to 



6MT 



has hooked himself. Now is the 
most critical moment. Do not 
jerk to set the hook. If you do 
you will lose nine out of ten 
fish. These fishes have very ten- 
der mouths and the hooks tear 
out most readily unless they are 
carefully handled. Just lead the 
fish gently to the side of the boat 
and lift him quickly in. These 
little fellows are really quite gamy 
in proportion to their size and 
their tender mouth makes land- 
ing them quite a sporting propo- 
sition. 

I have caught as high as fifty- 
five of these fish in one afternoon 
by the use of this kink and did 




bait up, wax four inches of the 
end of your line and about a foot 
of the thread. Slip half the 
waxed end through the Cooper 
snap and double it back to form a 
loop. Hook the snap over a 
handy projection, and wind the 
thread about the upper end of the 
loop, holding the line in your 
left hand and using your left 
fore-finger to hold the turns. 
Wind back and forth for about 
half an inch pulling the thread 
tight at each turn but making 
no attempt at smoothness, and 
fasten the thread with a half 
hitch. Ihe wax is waterproof. 
This little kink will add a third 



126 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



to the strength of your line, or 
enable you to use a lighter line 
than formerly, with a consequent 
saving of expense and gain in 
ease of casting. 

If you want to know why, make 
this experiment. 

Fasten your favorite line to a 
Cooper snap and hook it on a 
spring scale. Take two or three 
turns in the line a foot or so away 
and pull steadily. The line will 
break at about the rated test. 
Twelve tests on a new 8-pound 
No. 6 Ime will give an average 
of about 8% pounds. 

Now make a loop as advised 
above (;ime, one minute) and re- 
peat the experiment. The scale 
will show 754 — 8 — 8S4 — whoops ! 
9 — wheel 93^ — what do you know 
about that? 10— well, I'll be 
darned, IOV2 — oh. she breaks, 
somewhere between 10>^ and 11 
pounds. Twelve tests on the same 
new line will average about lOJ^ 
pounds. 

The in<-eresting point in these 
experiments is that in the first the 
line invariably breaks at the knot. 
The tension at which it breaks 
has a range of a pound, owing 
to diffe-ences in applying the 
strain, but the break is always 
at the knot. In the second test, 
however, the break occurs at no 
well-defined spot. Sometimes it 
is near the loop, sometimes near 
the othei end. 

A moment's thought gives the 
reason. Just as a rod breaks at 
the ferrule, because of the ab- 
sence of elasticity, so the line 



breaks at the knot, where it is 
bound. Making a waxed loop, in- 
stead of a knot, retains the elas- 
ticity of the line to a certain ex- 
tent, and compensates for what is 
lost by doubling the line. One- 
piece rods and serrated ferrules, 
though expensive, justify them- 
selves by adding elasticity, abolish- 
ing the knot in the line does the 
same thing. A tight knot puts 
two or three pounds strain on 
the line at least. The pull of 
the fish soon adds enough to 
break the line. Relieve every part 
of the line of artificial strain, and 
you have two or three pounds 
more for the fish. And two or 
three pounds is the difference be- 
tween the fish you've been catch- 
ing and tiie ones that got away. 



SAVING SNAGGED BAITS 

By John T. Mitchell 

Since acquiring the knowledge 
from an old bait-caster, I have 
never gone out without a consid- 
erable length of heavy cord 
(preferably chalk line) in the bag 
I carry over my shoulder while 
casting. A flat rock tied to the 
end of the heavy line has saved 
many an expensive plug, which 
otherwise would be dangling from 
an inaccessible branch or snag. 



PIG TAILS FOR BASS 

By a. H. Stern 

Here is a kink for bass fishing 
I was going to send you some 
time ago, but it slipped my mind 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



127 



until I saw your Kink Contest in 
the August book. 

I use a pig tail, either fresh or 
corned, which can be had at any 
meat dealer for a few cents, and 
four No. 22 or 24 eyed hooks. 
Fasten a hook about one inch 



pork is bent a little and tie the 
yarn on the tail as per sketch. 

You will jfind that your bait 
will wabble, dive and give several 
varieties of tango movements that 
take the eye. It acts like a min- 
now that is hurt; wiggles, dives 




from the tip or small end and the 
others divided equally apart. The 
best way to fasten them is to tie 
with small size fishing line around 
the tail. Then join all of these 
with a line up each side to the top 
of the tail, but not too tight, as 
this would not let the tail be free 
to wobble like an eel. This bait 
can be kept in water after being 
used for a whole season. It was 
used by an old bass fisherman 
for years. Use only the small 
taper part of the tail. 



and makes other foolish moves. 
1 have tried it out and find it 
good. Got on to it by accidentally 
pulling the yarn too tight on one 
that I made. 



ANOTHER PORK RIND 
STUNT 

By Ed. J. Sexberth 

Take a piece of pork rind and 

shape to as near a minnow as you 

can. Then take red yarn, loop 

Tied ^Cr( 



TitA l-lc>-e 



LIVE TROUT WHEN YOU 
WANT THEM 

By F. Mackey 

It was my pleasure to spend 
three months of 1912 and the same 
length of time in 1913 camping 
on the shore of beautiful Lake 
Alice, hidden in the Rocky Moun- 
tains of British Columbia. The 
fishing was uncertain, as it is on 
many lakes, but both the writer 
and his pal, "Bob," were fish 
eaters. (Bob, by the way, is my 
pointer dog.) So it occurred to 
me that if I could keep my fish 
alive I could have fish for camp 



ftwcjU ot rae^J. 




it over or around the neck and 
then stick it toward the tail, in 
and out, say, three times. Then 
pull the yarn a bit so that the 



when they were not disposed to 
rise to the fly. And this is how I 
did it: 

I purchased ten yards of 



128 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



chicken wire netting and packed it 
into camp. Then I cut cedar 
poles about three inches through 
for my posts. These were four 
feet high. The side pieces I 
made five feet long, the same size 
through. The ends were three 
feet. After squaring them at the 
ends, so they would fit nicely, I 
spiked them together. I now had 
my frame, and it was only neces- 
sary to fasten my chicken netting 
around this frame and my tank 
was completed. 

I selected a nice sandy spot 
under the shade of a pine tree 
and let my fish tank down in 
about two and a half feet of 
water in the lake at my tent door. 
In order to have my fish in good 
condition for the home that they 
would have for the rest of their 
existence, I made two baskets of 
the same material by weaving the 
wire together at the sides and 
end. Then when that was done, 
I pushed it into the shape of a 
barrel. This I kept at the end of 
my raft, half submerged in the 
water. When I hooked a fish of 
a size to keep, and his gills had 
not been affected by the fly hook, 
he was put in the basket. I could 
have my evening fishing without 
having occasion to visit my tank 
until the sport was over. My fish 
did well and were quite con- 
tented in their home. They af- 
forded me great pleasure watch- 
ing them rising to the insects that 
dropped on the water, and they 
also ate heartily of any grubs or 
worms I happened to throw in to 



them. I learned many things 
about trout that I never knew be- 
fore, and it certainly helped me 
in my study of this "king" of 
lake fish. The trout likes plenty 
of shade, so be sure and have one 
end of your tank covered with 
boughs. When removing fish 
from your tank use the landing 
net and do it carefully, so as not 
to cause too much disturbance in 
the tank, as your fish may injure 
themselves on the wire and be- 
come diseased. I had as many as 
seventy fish in my tank at one 
time, some weighing as heavy as 
two pounds. 

PACKING PLUGS 

By T. E. Drqhan 

The wood and pasteboard boxes 
that artificial wooden baits are 
sold in, take up too much room 
in the ordinary bait caster's out- 
fit. Yet if he leaves one single 
"plug" hole he is almost sure to 
regret it. I have been in that fix 
myself. 

Now, however, I take plenty 
on every trip. I discard the 
boxes and roll the plug in a piece 
of white oil cloth such as used for 
covering pantry shelves, use a 
piece about 7 by 14 inches and 
snap a rubber band on it. In this 
way I am able to pack twenty 
plugs and spoons, besides one reel, 
a pair of pliers, a file, disgorger 
and a small bottle of 3 in 1 oil in 
my No. 2 Gem tackle box. On 
the cloth side is labeled in ink the 
name of each bait, so that they 
can be readily found and the 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



129 



wrapping is done so as to leave 
the label in view — a very simple 
matter. 

The oil cloth will last a long 
time and is very cheap, and I 
hope that others in the fraternity- 
will find it as practical and satis- 
factory as I have. 



THE NATURAL BAIT 
WOBBLER 

By E. R. Acres 

If you ever happen to be in 
need of a wobbler that will wob- 
ble and that a bass will swallow, 
try this kink. If he misses the 



JB -dodj ca 



BooK^ the above quotation sug- 
gested that I might stretch a point 
in telling my pet way of handling 
— not the bait — but the fish. 

While this little trick, which I 
have used with much success, may 
be very old to a great many of 
my brother fishermen, I have yet 
to find the man who claimed to 
be able to stop fish from "break- 
ing water." That's my trick, or 
at least I think it is. 

How often, Oh, fisherman ! has 
your heart "stopped beating" as 
some wily old bass, or perhaps 
he was a trout, leaped into the 
air and shook himself from head 




^^ 



first time and y»u stop reeling, 
he will charge it like mad. Take 
a chub or round-bodied small fish 
and cut in the manner shown in 
the diagram. 

If yoiu want to fish in the 
weeds, reverse the hook. By the 
way, this will work well with rain- 
bow trout if you use a wobbler 
about one and one-half inches 
long and do not cut at as steep 
an angle. 

HOLDING 'EM DOWN 

By Rush McFarland 

"Some pet way of handling a 
bait, etc.," — 

When reading of your Kink 
Contest in March issue of Outer's 




to tail in his mighty effort to free 
himself of the hook. And that 
same old heart did not get to 
pumping again until you had 
strained your rod almost to the 
breaking point to keep from giv- 
ing "slack" and you found that 
the fight was still on. 

Let's see if you can't agree 
with me that my pet scheme is not 
better than inviting any lapse of 
heart action. 

After striking your fish as soon 
as the battle is on, dip the tip of 
your rod into the water and keep 
it there until you have brought 
your fish to net. Keep plenty of 
"bow" in your rod, of course, but 
you'll find that it is not the spring 



130 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



of the rod that's tiring your fish 
so much as the friction of line and 
water, hence you are not only 
eliminating the possibility of fre- 
quent leaping of the fish, but you 
are going to net him in much less 
time. 

In keeping the tip of your rod 
submerged your fish has possibly, 
under certain conditions, as much 
as ten or even twenty times the 
amount of line to "tote" through 
the water as when the rod is held 
nearly perpendicular. This when 
your fish is describing the arc of 
a circle or speeding along laterally 
to the angler's position, means ex- 



tra weight or tension on the fish 
without increasing the strain on 
the rod or endangering the break- 
ing strength of the line. 

When the rod is held perpendic- 
ularly, or nearly so, the tendency 
is to bring or hold the fish near 
the surface. The pull being al- 
ways toward the surface, is it any 
wonder that the fish will occa- 
sionally "break water" when so 
ably assisted in his leaps by the 
angler himself? But if your 
fish be made to "tote," say, 
fifty feet of line or more to 
and above the surface, I think 
that you will find that his leaps 
will not be frequent, but as I 
contend, eliminated entirely. 



But try it out yourself, brother 
sportsman. If it works for you, 
why then it's a good kink; if not, 
it's no kink at all. 



THE SHOE-EYELET 
AGATE 

By J. H. COMMISKEY 

Would like to tell worthy 
brothers what happened to me on 
my fishing trip a short time ago. 
I was out bright and early one 
fine morning and had only got 
started when the agate tip on my 
rod broke. While rowing back to 
camp I hit upon the following 




Lplet 




/><jtiAc<^ 



kink : I took an eyelet out of my 
boot and fastened it securely 
where the agate had been, and I 
used that same tip during entire 
trip. 



TAPE FOR REEL SEATS 

By G. W. Russell 

My reel used often to loosen by 
the slipping of the rings which 
held it in place. I have seen 
others have this trouble also ; and 
what is more distressing, it us- 
ually occurs just when you have 
set the hook in that big one. 

To prevent this trouble I use 
half-inch electricians' tape on the 
reel seat. I set the reel in place 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



131 



and push the rings up firmly. 
Then I lash all in place with the 
tap which is wound on in the 
form of a figure 8. The tape will 




hold under all conditions, and is 
very easily removed at the end 
of the day. 



AN EYED FLY BOX 

By E. p. Cook, M. D. 

I sent away and got a box for 
eyed flies, and such a monstrosity 
as it was — more of a load than 
the fish on many trips. I knew 



5 


%> 


H 


^ 


/\ 


-N 


, _ 




-\ 


V 




) 


N., 




J 


^ 


\l 


J 






^81 



t 



I M I I I I I ' I I I ri II I II I I I I I I I I r I 



33 



F^5^ 

what I wanted, but could find 
nothing of the sort advertised. So 
I set about it to make one. A die- 
carded watercolor paint box, such 
as the children have at school, 



furnished just the right thing as 
to box. The inside of this box 
was painted with waterproof 
white enamel to prevent rusting. 
Next, sections of corks were glued 
to the inside, as drawings show, 
and the thing was done. Figs.^ 
1 and 2 show the box closed, 5^ 
inches long, 2% inches wide, ^ 




inch thick. Will hold twenty-five 
or thirty flies. Slip easily into a 
vest pocket. 



ROD CASE AND TRIPOD 

By George A. Wiggan 

Having for several years com- 
bined fishing and photography, 
and being addicted to delicate 
bait rods and time exposures, I 
began to look round for a light, 
portable rod case, and the ditto 
in a tripod. 

The rod case came first. I had 
already used a leather case — too 
heavy ; bamboo — too bulky ; fibre 
— a mortal foe to wet. What was 
I to do? No other style of case 
that I could find was made. An- 



132 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



swer, think it over and make one. 
The tripod presented like troubles. 
Wood ones were bulky and the 
three-legged metal ones were a 
load in themselves. 

The solution to the tripod came 
first. A party of surveyors gave 
me the hunch. If a compass 
could be kept steady enough on a 
single rod, why not a camera. I 
straightway went to the nearest 
photo supply place and was 
promptly rebuked by the clerk for 
thinking that such a thing as a 
one-legged tripod existed. The 
idea! So back to the workshop 
to plan one of my own I went. 

Let's see, the tripod ought to 
be about three feet long to be 
portable; long enough for all pur- 
poses. Three feet — somehow those 
words stuck to my mind. What 
was three feet? I looked around. 
There in its case stood my pet 
Heddon. Why, of course; that 
rod was just about three feet 
when taken down. Why not com- 
bine the two? So far, so good. 
But what material would answer 
all that I required? My friend, 
the tin smith, when called into 
consultation, said he could fix me 
up with a piece of heavy, retinned 
tin, and that he could make a case 
out of it to fit my rod and I 
could work out my salvation for 
the camera as best might appear. 

In due time the case arrived. 
It was just large enough for two 
tips to fit in on either side of the 
butt. The handle fitted in nicely. 
On the bottom the tinsmith had 
put .a spiked ferrule so that it 



could be stuck into the ground. 
The top he fixed up with a screw- 
on cap. Good for the rod but no 
place for the camera. The screw- 
on part of a discarded tripod was 
commandeered and a hole bored 
in the case top. The screw was 
soldered in and when it was done 
made a ^solid place to fasten the 
camera to. 

The whole thing was about 
three feet six inches long and 
about an inch and a quarter 
across. Empty, it weighed a 
trifle over a pound. The rod was 
protected perfectly and I had a 
solid rest for my camera and it 
carried as easily as the rod alone 
and was just about right for a 
walking stick. 



SHRIMP BAIT IN FRESH 
WATER 

By Geo. C. Shupee 

I do not know if this "kink" is 
of any value, but I have found 
that I could catch fish with it 
where others have failed with 
other baits. It may not be new 
and others may know of it, but 
it has always been new when I 
sprung it. 

Take fresh salt water shrimp 
and leave it out in sun till it turns 
a delicate pink, say from two to 
five hours, depending on how hot 
the sun is (if you have a distance 
to go, your bait will generally be 
ready by the time you get there). 
One bait constitutes a single joint, 
or knuckle, impaled upon your 
favorite hook or spinner, and if 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



133 



there are any fish in the water 
they are yours. 

It will have a very strong odor 
which some might object to, but 
a dip in the water removes this 
to some extent. The meat will 
be a clear white, ideal bass bait, 
and as I have learned, fish bite 
by smell and sight, and not by 
taste, the odor draws them, espe- 
cially bottom feeding fish, and the 
clear white is the tempting mor- 
sel for Mr. Bass. I have also 
used it successfully for speckled 
trout. 

As an illustration : A friend 
and I went to his ranch on the 
river near here (San Antonio, 
Tex.) He said he knew where 
the fishing was good, so all I had 
to do was follow him. I picked 
out a likely hole and began to 
cast with my shrimp bait. He 
had snails and grasshoppers. He 
told me to come with him, that I 
would catch none where I was, 
but I told him I would see him 
later. It was then about 7 a. m. 
About 9 a. m. he returned with 
one three-pound channel cat. I 
had run out of bait and had 
thirty-eight fish, all running 
from two pounds to four pounds. 
He had lived and fished there for 
three years, and it was my first 
trip — I lay it all to the bait, as I 
find that it will work as well 
elsewhere. 

The meat is firm and stays on 
the hook well, and answers every 
purpose of pork rind on spinners. 
Please, however, do not confuse 
with canned or dried shrimp, 



neither of which seems to work 
at all. If you should be going for 
two or four weeks, five to ten 
pounds will be sufficient. All I 
ever do is to leave it in a per- 
forated can in the stream and 
use as needed, and the longer it 
is kept the better it is. 

I hope this will enable some 
brother slave of Isaak Walton to 
realize his desires. 



"NOTHIN' BUT GLUE" 

By D. B, Tolley 

I believe that most users of 
the wooden rod will agree with 
me in saying that the tying of an 
invisible knot at the end of each 
wind when wrapping such a rod 
is a nuisance; to some an almost 
intolerable nuisance. One winds 
good and tight and closely and 
then lets the silk slip at the finish 
and spoils the whole thing. 

A few years ago I wound a 
rod spirally, and in the course of 
time the varnish became scratched 
and the silk broken. I did not 
relish the thought of rewinding 
my service rod in summer, so just 
applied some varnish to the scratch 
and kept on using it. The silk, 
held by the varnish, did not start 
a trifle. That made me wonder 
why a knot was necessary at all. 

The next time a rod was wound 
I used glue to hold the end until 
the varnish had set. I used the 
kind of glue which must be heated 
to reduce from a solid to a liquid, 
and, believe me, it worked. I 
coated the last few laps of each 
wind with glue (roughly), wound 



134 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



them and applied a smear of glue 
to the finish, keeping the silk tight 
the while. I then snipped the silk 
and removed the surplus glue with 
a piece of chamois. That finish 
was ideal, almost invisible and 
very tight. The glue hardened 
so quickly that I could go right 
on winding without having the 
glue let go because of a little 
handling. The varnish obliterates 
any stain left on the silk by the 
glue. 

My glue pot certainly saved me 
time and trouble last spring and 
yours will, to, if you'll only let it, 
Brother Angler. 



THE BOTTLE CAP FISH 
SCALER 

By Thomas Maloney 

A very practical little device for 
removing fish scales can be made 
by taking a beer bottle cap (the 
sharp, scalloped-edge type illus- 
trated in accompanying diagram) 



and a short piece of wood, capable 
of serving as a handle. The cap 
should then be tacked on one end 
of the handle, driving the nail 
through the under part of the 
handle, then bending over on top 
to fasten more securely. The re- 
sult is a very serviceable little 
scaler. 



A CRICKET "FARM" 

By W. J. Fritz 

The following kink will, I trust, 
save many a physical kink in the 
back of those Sons of Walton 
who are always prowling around 
looking for live bait, such as 
crickets, grasshoppers and the 
like. Its discoverey was purely 
acidental, but it has saved me 
many a valuable hour of fishing 
time, and what can be more prec- 
ious than that to an angler? 

For a long time there lay in 
our back yard the trunk of an 
old plum tree. Its function was 
supposedly as a base for running 





vines, which (under the subse- 
quent circumstances) I am glad 
to say, refused to "run." One 
day, after a stretch of wet 
weather, an old carpet used as 
a door mat was thrown over the 
plum trunk to dry. On removing 
it some time later I was sur- 
prised to find beneath it about two 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



135 



dozen large, black crickets. The 
damp, cool place, together with 
the rough bark, evidently afforded 
them an excellent hiding place, 
which they had promptly adopted 
as a home. Crickets being at 
that time a seasonable bait, my 
surprise was a pleasant one. 



in certain little eddies and no way 
to catch them? That's what hap- 
pened to me on several trips until 
I made a net out of minnow seine 
to carry in my pocket. 

And this is how I made it : 
First, I cut a piece of seine about 
16 in. wide by 24 in. long. Both 



^1=: 




Fig 3 



Now that cricket home has be- 
come permanent. I brought the 
tree trunk closer to the house and 
placed it near the cistern. I keep 
it covered with a couple of old 
gunny sacks, over which I oc- 
casionally douse a bucket of 
water. Whenever the bass down 
at the pond telegraph that they 
would like a few crickets for sup- 
per, all I do is to pick up one 
corner of my sacks and gather 
as many as needed, in a minute 
or two. 

A HANDY MINNOW NET 

By Harry E. Smith 

Were you ever fishing when the 
trout wouldn't take a fly or when 
it was desirable to have some 
minnows : with thousands of them 




sides of this I bound with strips 
of muslin about 3 in. wide, mak- 
ing loops or hems through which 
the handle could be pushed, as 
shown in Fig. 1. 

Next, I doubled the hems or 
loops together and stitched the 




Fig. 2 



Fig. 1 



rear end together about half way 
to loops, as shown in Fig, 2. This 
gives us a sort of scoop shovel 
shape net which only lacks the 
handle and can be folded into a 
very small space. 

The handle is cut from almost 
any convenient bush or tree in the 
shape of a crotched stick with the 
branches as long as the loops on 



136 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



the net. These may be sprung 
together and slipped into the loops 
and the net is ready for business, 
as shown in Fig. 3. 

It can be carried almost as 
easily as a pocket handkerchief 
and may help us to a basket of 
trout when their appetites call for 
minnows. 

A GOOD SINKER FOR 
TROUT FISHING 

By Frank E. Wilder 

I have used a Kink which 
works very well in any stream 
when fishing with worms. This 
is especially effective in streams 
which are frequently fished and 
where the trout are wise. 

Most everyone knows that to 
make the bait look like worms 
which have naturally fallen into 
the stream, you let your hook, 
which is well baited with worms, 
drift down the stream before you 
and you don't use a sinker. There 
is one objection to this mode of 
fishing, which is, that you can't 
get to fish the deep holes where 
there is a current, and that is the 
very place where the big ones lie. 

To get down in these holes and 
still have your bait look lifelike, 
tightly roll a piece of tinfoil, 
which is about three-quarters of 
an inch square, around your line 
just above your leader or about 
six or eight inches from your 
hook. 

If no tinfoil can be found, 
melt a little lead and pour it on 
some smooth surface from a 
height of five feet. While pour- 



ing, keep the dish in motion so 
that the lead will not fall in the 
same spot, and the lead will flat- 
ten out in little pieces about as 
large as a penny. 

When using one of these sink- 
ers and you get your hook 
snagged on a log you can pull the 
sinker right through the end eye 
and work your hook loose with 
the tip of your pole without dis- 
turbing the hole. 

As an example, to show how 
effective this sinker is in trout 
fishing, I will tell you about my 
last fishing trip. Three of us, two 
friends and I, went fishing. One 
of my friends used split buck- 
shot, and the other fellow used 
no sinker at all. As usual, I 
used a piece of tinfoil. As a re- 
sult, the total catch of my friends 
was three trout, while I caught 
twelve beauties. 



WAXING SILK THREADS 
FOR ROD WINDING 

By Julius Frank 

For you who rewind and you 
who make your own rods com- 
plete, give heed to an easy and 
effective manner of waxing your 
threads. 

Having almost completed a 5- 
foot casting rod of bethabara, I 
suddenly remembered that the 
light, gaudy colored threads on a 
split bamboo rod which I re- 
wound last winter were now dark 
and dull. I began formulating a 
plan to overcome this deteriora- 
tion in the threads. I knew of the 
time-worn method of drawing the 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



137 



threads through light colored 
bees' wax, but natural bees' wax, 
no matter how light, always 
alters the color of the threads 
and only waxes the surface. Re- 
membering that wax is soluble in 
gasoline, I finally decided a 
scheme that not only preserves 
the original color, but also "sets" 
it permanently, waxes every fiber 
in the thread and makes it thor- 
oughly waterproof. 

Here is the method and for- 
mula : 

Scrape one ounce of paraffine 
with a knife from a white candle 
and after allowing a small electric 
"disc-plate" stove to become 
heated disconect it (a hot laundry 
iron propped upside-down will do 
as well). Put the paraffine in a 
half-pint common drinking cup, 
place it on the stove and wait until 
the paraffine becomes liquid. Then 
add one ounce of gasolene and 
mix thoroughly with a spoon and 
allow this preparation to remain 
on the heated stove. Submerge 
the vari-colored threads which 
should be previously wound sep- 
arately on thin, stiff, white visit- 
ing cards cut to measure 1 by 3 
inches and then notched like a 
slung-shot stock at both ends. 

Remove the cards of threads 
after they have remained in the 
mixture about five minutes. Pierce 
the cards with pins and hang 
them in a shady place In the open 
where the air can reach the 
threads. Let them remain sus- 
pended for a few hours and then 
upon examination you will find 



that the gasoline has entirely 
evaporated and the threads are 
soft, pliable and thoroughly satur- 
ated with paraffine. 

Threads treated in this manner 
make the rod moisture-proof 
where wound and where, by-the- 
by, the varnish does not touch. 

I wish that you, my fellow ang- 
lers, could see my finished rod. 
It reverses an old adage— My Joy 
Forever Is a Thing of Beauty. 

THE KINK OF KINKS 

By James R. Allen 
To quote a short passage from 
your kink write-up in the June 
:iumber of Outer's, "A kink is 
just any special pet trick that you 
make use of in your fishing." Ac- 
cording to this definition, I here- 
with submit the dandiest little 
kink that ever cavorted before 
your serene vision. I am a young 
dub, just learning to get the hunt- 
ing and fishing fevers each fall 
and spring. But I don't know a 
whole lot about either hunting or 
fishing yet. My elder brother 
(the big yap) says I'm a little too 
new to educate yet. He is some 
sportsman. Being one, he sub- 
scribes for Outer's, of course. 
And here's where my kink comes 
m. Each month I sneak into his 
den and lift his latest copy of 
"The Joy Book." This little 
stunt, together with subsequent 
reading of the purloined maga- 
zine's contents, has helped my 
fishing more than any other kink 
I ever heard of. 
P. S. — I am sitting in my 



138 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



brother's den now, knocking this 
kink out on his typewriter. I'd 
5urely get mine if he were to slip 
in now and catch me. But he's 
out in the back yard trying out 
his three new reels, and he won't 
know anything about this until 
he sees my fool name under the 
blackface head "The Kink of 
Kinks" at the head of the first 
column of your announcement of 
the winners for the month of 
May, and when he sees that I have 
grabbed the big prize, he won't be 
very sore. 



about 2 feet from the reel. Screw 
the bent eyelet in the end and 
space the third eyelet in the mid- 
dle as shown in the diagram. 
Then I am ready for the fish. 

The screw eyes want to be of 
small size wire so as not to 
weaken the rod too much where 
they are screwed in. 

Try this stunt once and you will 
be surprised how slick it works. 



EXTEMPORIZING A CAST- 
ING ROD 

By Roger Williams 

I thought I would tell you of 
the scheme of rigging up a cast- 
ing rod which I use when going 
to the river after working hours 
and do not wish to be bothered 



IT GOT A BIG ONE 

By a. D. Wood 

Last year on the Connesauga 
River, North Georgia, I had an 
experience that might possibly 
take the candy in your contest. 
If not, it may help some other 
fellow to bring home "the big 
one" some time. 

I was lucky enough to catch 
plenty of beautiful Rainbows ten 
to thirteen inches in length, but 




with taking tackle along. And 
sometimes I use this rod when I 
am fishing with bait and want 
more than one rod. 

All that is necessary is a reel 
and three screw eyes, light weight 
with large eyes. The one for the 
tip I bend up so that it will be in 
line with the other two. I cut a 
^raight stick — most generally 
willow — about 7 feet long. Tie the 
reel in place with a short piece 
of cord. Put the first screw eye 



in several deep, clear pools there 
were larger fish that I could not 
induce to strike at anything. I 
tried minnows without success. 
One day a mountaineer came 
down the stream fishing with 
grasshoppers. He fished with the 
hopper hooked through the body 
and caught small fish the same as 
I, but it gave me the idea just the 
same. 

I got busy and caught about a 
dozen big, fat "hoppers." Then 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



139 



with a piece of sewing thread I 
tied a band around his body that 
would not interfere with his 
wings or legs and ran the hook 
under the thread so that it did 
not hurt the hopper at all. With 
this equipment I slipped carefully 
to one of the deep pools and 
tossed Mr. Grasshopper out over 
the pool. He tried to fly and did 
a little. But the hook weighed 
him down and in he went and 
up came one of the big Rainbows 
I was after, and the fight was on. 
I got this one O. K., but I struck 
the next too soon and lost him. 
But the trick worked, and that is 
what I wanted. 



THREE PRACTICAL SUG- 
GESTIONS 

By George A. Wiggan 

Anglers who use eyed flies and 
do not like to pay the high prices 
frequently asked for clip boxes, 
should try the following: 

Get a flat tin tobacco box (not 
too deep) of the side-opening 
type. Scrape the paint off of this 
and give it a coat of tinner's varn- 
ish. Take some sheet cork about 
a quarter of an inch thick and 
cut it into strips as long as the 
box is wide and about a quarter 
of an inch broad. If sheet cork 
is not available, the strips may be 
cut out from long bottle corks. 
Use the smallest size brads to 
fasten the strips in place with. 
Drive the brads into the box 
from the outside. Then press a 
strip of cork over the points and 
clinch the ends of the brads with 



a tap of the hammer. Several 
dozen eyed flies can be carried in 
a box of this kind. A good idea 
is to solder a ring to one corner 
of the box and run a lanyard thru 




it. Hang this around your neck 
and you will never lose the box 
by having it fall out of your 
pocket. 

Another good hunch for eyed-fly 
users, which I believe was men- 
tioned some years ago in this 
magazine, is to fasten one of these 
patent finger-nail clippers to a 
cheap spring eyeglass holder. 
Stick this on your lapel and you 
will find it most handy for snip- 
ping off the ends of gut after 
fastening the flies to the leader. 

Those who use minnows may 
welcome the following suggestion: 
For several years we had great 
difficulty in keeping "minnies" 
alive. At first we used a plain 
box with holes in it to allow the 
water to circulate. This would 
work only in deep water, because 
when placed in the shallows the 
wash soon killed the minnows. 
And because these little fish are 
essentially a shoal water species, 
the pressure of the deep water 
likewise affected them unfavor- 



140 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



ably. Then we tried using two 
boxes, one inside of the other. This 
worked better but was not 3'et en- 
tirely satisfactory, altho we were 
on the right track. Finally we 
discovered that by tacking a triple 



3...«..... 






Tov> LVevalion 



hA 



:^A 




A'". 



A': 



/ 



/ V /A 

3 T- ^ f 



^A., 



A1 



./±. 



A A • WINDOWS S 5'iiP^({.^r„^^ ORAtfS 

i -.t;-.-.-.^] 

A'' / 






thickness of cheesecloth over the 
windows of the outside box the 
force of the waves was effectively 
broken and the minnows remained 
alive and fresh for days. 

The outer box should be about 
36 by 30 inches; the inner one 
30 by 24 inches. Nail inch blocks 
of wood between the. boxes to 
keep them apart. The inner box 
should have two 6-inch windows 
on each side and one on each end, 
covered with wire gauze. The 
outer box should have three win- 
dows on each side and two on 
each end. Cover these with wire 
gauze,- then the triple layer of 



cheesecloth and then another piece 
of gauze. If you have ever 
bought several dozen minnows at 
night and found them all dead 
in the morning, you will appre- 
ciate this box after a trial. 



A NOBLE USE FOR THE 
COCKROACH 

By C. E. Mover 

Here is a kink that I am sure 
will bring more pleasure to your 
readers and more fish to their 
strings than any you have ever 
published. 

It is a live bait for perch. The 
bait consists in a common cock- 
roach hooked from the under side 
with a very small hook. A No. 
26 Cincinnati bass is the best hook 
I have tried. One BB split shot 
for a sinker and a porcupine quill 
for a float completes the best rig 
for perch ever used. 

The roach is alive and kicks 
for several minutes. He will live 
for some time if lifted out of the 



4 




water so he can get air occasion- 
ally. He won't stay under the 
water very long if there is a 
perch in sight, and the largest 
perch always gets to him first. 

Down here in Arkansas we have 
a small mouth perch called bream. 
He is just foolish about roaches. 
He averages about the size of a 
man's hand and no fish is sweeter 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



141 



when he comes from the frying 
pan. Roaches are also good bait 
for croppie, goggle eye perch and 
catfish, 

I have known roaches to sell 
for 25 cents a dozen. I recently 
caught 46 bream which weighed 
16 lbs. in one hour and a half. 
Another fisherman using red 
worms could not even get a bite, 
though his boat was almost touch- 
ing mine. 

The roaches are caught in gro- 
cery stores, butcher shops, restau- 
rants, etc. Most anglers use reg- 
ular screen wire roach traps, 
which can be bought at any hard- 
ware store, at 25 cents each. Bait 
them with raw potato and set 
where the roaches pass along the 
walls. They may also be caught 
in a slick new tin pan. Put raw 
potato in the pan and place a piece 
of cardboard for them to walk 
up on. They drop off into the 
basin and can't crawl out, an-d if 
they are thick you will have a 
hundred each morning. 

They can be kept for days and 
weeks if fed liberally on raw po- 
tato. A damp cloth should be 
used to supply moisture. All va- 
rieties of perch will bite them 
more liberally than any bait I 
have ever used and you very sel- 
dom miss your fish. 



AN EMERGENCY LEADER 

By M. a. Gurney 

By tying an ordinary single 
knot, as per diagram ; then 
spreading points b and c and pass- 



ing loop D between them at point 
shown by arrow and drawing 
tight ends A and B, you will have 
duplicate of the editor's "Middle 
Branch" knot. We used to call 
this a half hitch jam knot, though 
I was mighty glad to see it agai-n, 
for it never occurred to me as 
just the thing for a dropper loop. 
And even though others may 



h 




know the knot (though not your 
own way of tying it), I am sure 
bringing this new use for it to 
their attention will be appre- 
ciated. 

Here's a new wrinkle or may- 
hap an old one; but I dare say it 
is young, if not new, because the 
material has been on the market 
but a few years. 

About three years ago I was 
fishing near a town about the size 
of a postoffice, general store and 
(of course) a saloon. During the 
day, through a mishap I lost every 
leader I had, even to the one T 
was using. I was surely up 
against it. Finally I mooched 
over to the general store, but just 
because I wanted a leader they 
didn't carry them. 

That evening I was telling my 
troubles to a fellow trout fan, 
when he laughed and told me he 



142 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



could stake me to 10 yards of 
emergency leader for 10 cents, 
and he did. 

From out of his tackle box he 
fished a spool of dental floss. 
Yes — it's silk — paraffined I guess, 
about size H or No. 6, and 9,999 
lbs. test. Maybe a few pounds 
less, but anyway so strong you, I 
or the other fellow cannot break 
it without cutting our hands. 

Did I use it? I did. And ever 
since, on any color water, you 
will find my dental floss leader at 
work. Best of it is, any old or 
young drug store carries it. 
Again, if you want to surprise 
yourself and are fishing a stream 
where one cannot cast (it's too 
light for casting), why tie two of 
the 10-yard lengths together and 
use them as a line. Hook a three- 
pounder and I'll bet a nickel 
against every red beauty spot on 
him that he'll think he's on the 
south end of a tow line. No, he 
won't break it. Come over where 
we fish and I'll prove it. Of 
course, 20 yards or 60 feet costs 
one 20 cents, hence it might not 
be in keeping with a $30 Leonard. 
Still, it's some leader and some 
line. 



THE COTTER PIN EMER- 
GENCY TOP 

By Dwight Harris 

One day while on a week's fish- 
ing trip I happened to lose the 
tip joint of my favorite steel cast- 
ing rod. As I did not want to 
miss a lot of fun, I decided to see 
what I could do about it. Rum- 



maging around in a box of old 
nails, screws and other junk, I 
found a cotter pin. Immediately 
an idea came to me. Fastening 
the cotter pin firmly by the ring 
end, I bent the shank to an angle 
of about 75 degrees. (Fig. 1.) 



BfcYVl 





PoinU Sprtad 



Then I sprung the points slightly 
apart (Fig. 2), and put my "emer- 
gency tip" in place. It really 
worked surprisingly well until I 
could obtain a new tip joint. 



A TROT-LINE KINK 

By George Krumsick 

I take pleasure in passing on a 
little kink that I have found to 
be of much value to the trot-line 
fisherma?;. You realize that the 
average fisherman is not a fly or 
wooden minnow expert and de- 
pends upon the faithful old trot- 
line for his "meat" when he pulls 
up camp. The trick I have dis- 
covered is in preparing the trot- 
line staging in the manner shown 
on the rough sketch accompanying 
this letter, I make my stagings 
twelve inches long, and, in addi- 
tion to trying on the hook in the 
usual manner, I split a wine bot- 
tle cork on one side and draw the 
staging through it, leaving it 
about four inches above the hook. 
When the trot-line is set, the cork 
float holds the staging ofi^ the bot- 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



143 



torn of the river and puts the bait 
where it can move with the cur- 
rent and where the fish can see 
it. A trot-line staging fixed in the 
old way lies flat on the bottom of 
the river and often the minnows 
or crawfish used for bait get un- 
der smal^ rocks or leaves with the 
hook and fish never find them, so 
that the fisherman comes to the 
conclusion that fish are not biting. 
Frequently when minnows are 
used for bait, crawfish chew them 
off and the fisherman thinks gars 
or other fish have stolen the bait. 
A staging held up with the cork 



a thick cushion in your pack, 
which is always so full anyway, 
is not to be thought of. There- 
fore, a stuffed seat cushion gen- 
erally gets left at home on ac- 
count of space. 

I went to the carriage trimmf^r 
and got a piece of buggy top and 
made a cushion 12 by 14 inches. 
Sewed it all around except one 
end. which was left open, and 
in this open end holes were 
punched at intervals for shoe- 
string lacings. This now folds 
flat and takes up only a little 
space, and when I get to my desti- 




float swings free and every bait 
is visible. Fishermen who will 
try this will find that trot-line 
fishing will give them far better 
results than the old way. 



A BOAT CUSHION 

By J. W. De Long 
I expect a good many who, like 
myself, go fishing for a couple 
of weeks trip at some distant 
point, find that a boat seat gets 
awful hard on the upper side after 
a few daj'S fishing without a good 
cushion. Air cushions, when you 
want them, always have some- 
thing wrong — at least such has 
been my experience, and to put 



nation I fill it up with dry hay 
or excelsior or balsam boughs and 
lace it shut like a shoe. After 
a few days if it gets too flat, un- 
lace it and fill it up and you have 
a dandy. 



LEADERS FROM HOOK 
SNELLS 

By C. M. Byerly 
Here is a kink I have by which 
I make gut leaders from the 
snells of damaged hooks. First, 
remove the broken or damaged 
hooks. Then, soak the snells in 
water a few minutes or until they 
are soft. (If you try to tie them 
dry they will crack or break.) 



144 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



Then lay them as in Fig. 1, and 
tie a common knot in each and 
around the other, as in Fig. 2. 
Pull both knots tight as possible; 



hundred fish with this outfit. 1 
can make them up for anyone 
very cheap, but any handy man 
can make it. I am not a sub- 



Fw.tt 



7^=Q^ 



then pull them together tight and 
cut off the ends (a) close to the 
knot. 

I now have a gut leader with a 
loop in each end and about 12 or 
14 inches long. Two of them 
may be looped together, making 
once twice as long and so on till 
I have a leader of the desired 
length. 

By using my old leaders this 
way I always have a good leader, 
free of all cost and also the satis- 
faction of making them myself. 



scriber to your magazine but I 
never miss a copy when it arrives 
at the news stand. 



A GOOD SPINNER RIG 

By Chas. O. Reed 

I am enclosing a pen descrip- 
tion of a three-hook pork-rind 
spinner bait. I have made several 
of these, for bass, muskie and 



A HOME-MADE 
ATTRACTOR 

By George Morton 

Cut two and a half by three- 
eighths inches from a sheet of 
German silver and drill a small 
hole in each end for split rings. 
Round both ends with a file and 
then curve same, as illustrated. 
This can be accomplished in the 
hands without tools, and is very 
difficult to straighten out again by 
any pull or strain. Finish same 
by giving a brilliant polish (this 
is easily done with any metal 
polish). 

In conjunction with this, get a 




trout. They have no equal. Can 
be made in all sizes, both of spin- 
ners and hooks. I have in the 
last three months taken over one 



0^^ -^^(X^g aCgjaO 



long shanked eyed hook (not too 
springy). Then wind on a small 
lip hook close to eye of the large 
one with both barbs in line (as 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



145 



illustrated). In using pork rind 
on these hooks, cut strip twice the 
length of the large hook and 
about one-quarter inch thick. 
Hook the middle of the rind on 
the small hook and let it hang 
down alongside of the large hook. 
This method will overcome the 
losing of fish on short strikes, as 
the hook is at the tail of the rind 
and rides between same with the 
barb upright, making it also weed- 
less, while the spinner will impart 



found the lure had the same 
charfn with the bass, pickerel and 
perch. 



AN 



CRAPPIE 



EXCELLENT 
BAIT 

By a. J. Hunter 

While fishing a crapple bed last 
week I discovered an excellent 
substitute for the minnow. I had 
used my last minnow, and as they 
were very hard to obtain I looked 




to the rig a wiggling, wormy ac- 
tion. They can't resist it. This 
rig can also be used with dead or 
live minnows by inserting small 
hook in lips and fastening large 
hook alongside of minnow with 
small rubber band (as illus- 
trated). A fly can also be used. 
My first experiment with this 
rig was in salt water on blue fish 
and it was such a wonderful suc- 
cess (and grand sport with bait- 
casting outfit) that I have sold 
many by request. This induced 
me to try it in fresh water and I 



around for a substitute. I struck 
an idea that worked. Here it is. 
On the lower jaw of any fish you 
will find, at a point running from 
the forward tip of jaw to a point 
where the gills almost meet, a 
long thin piece of very tough 
white skin. Take your pocket 
knife and cut this out. When 
putting on hook be very careful 
not to stick yourself with hook, 
as this piece of skin is tough 
enough to make it hard to put a 
hook through it. When put in 
the water and moved to represent 



146 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



a minnow it makes an excellent 
bait. I caught twelve on one* such 
bait. Hoping this will help some 
brother angler out of a trying 
situation I submit it to the kink 
contest. 



REST YOUR BONES 

By a. W. Summers 

If you have two bucks that you 
can spare (and what enthusiastic 
disciple of Walton hasn't, if he 
has to steal it?), buy a fourteen- 
inch red rubber invalid's ring. 
The only regret you will have is 
that you didn't do it sooner. It 
has as many uses as a pocket in 
a shirt. After you have sat on 
a hardwood plank in a boat for 
about three days, haven't you 
wished you had a Silver's recoil 
pad on the seat of your pants? 
The rubber ring will have the 
same effect. 

Then when 3^ou made that extra 
long cast and fell out of the boat, 
or went under an overhanging 
snag and were scraped off, would- 
n't a life preserver be about the 
finest thing you ever took hold 
of? The rubber ring will support 
any man in the water. Then 
when you hit the hay and make 
a stab at wooing Morpheus but 
find that the buttons in the pants 
you are using for a pillow per- 
sistently come ito the top and 
double-cross you in your wooing 
— take your rubber ring and find 
that it isn't half bad as a pillow. 

Slip each arm through one and 
let rest on the shoulders and you 



will find that you can hardly get 
them off in the water unless you. 
are a contortionist. A woman 
that never swam a lick can swim 
for miles with two of the rings 
arranged in this way. In case of 
sickness they come in handy. I 
heave heard they are one of the 
finest things in the world in a 
long drawn out session of the 
great American game of draw 
poker. (This latter suggestion 
will probably be of no use to a 
fisherman.) In a forty-mile ride 
in a buckboard and on numerous 
other occasions you will find it 
worth the money. It will take up 
about the same room in your 
tackle box as a reel and will go 
in a much flatter space. On the 
whole there are only a few things 
in my tackle box that are more 
prized than my cushion. Buy one 
and if you do not like it you can 
cuss the Editor all you like. 



THE FISH KITE 

By M. a. Wright 

Several years ago when on an 
outing trip in northern Minnesota 
T saw an old gentleman fishing 
from the shore of a small lake. 
He was walking along the shore 
holding what looked like a hand 
line, but it seemed to stay out in 
the deep water and not drag to 
shore as one ordinarily does. On 
a little closer observation I found 
that his line was tied to a block 
of wood that seemed to have a 
peculiar way of staying out from 
shore. 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



147 



I approached the old gentleman 
and asked to examine his outfit, 
and also what he called it. He 
told me it was a "fish kite," and 
pulled it in for me to see. Al- 
though his kite was very crude, 
it had the right principle. I have 
one like the drawing and find the 
following good points in its favor 
when compared with casting: 
You have your bait in the water 
all the time, and at the desired 




THE FISH KITE. 

distance from shore rather than 
fishing, crosswise on a strip of 
water, as in casting. One can troll 
a greater distance from shore 
than can be done with the longest 
cane pole, nor does it disturb the 
water as much as a boat. It is 
very convenient to carry, as the 
lines may be wound around the 
kite and the whole thing put in a 
coat pocket. The block should 
be of white pine or cedar and 
painted most any dull color. 
Nearly any kind of bait may be 
used, such as spoon hook, wob- 
bler, minnow, frog or worms. 



The belly-bands are tied from 
screw eyes A to D, and from B 
to C. The tow line is tied to the 
belly-bands a little closer to C and 
D than to A and B. The bait line 
is tied to D. The belly-bands and 
tow line should be adjusted so as 
to make the kite ride vertically 
and with the front end of the 
block farther from shore than the 
rear end. The kite should float 
with the top of the block about 






to ^ 




one-half of an inch above the 
water. The lead weight may have 
to be added to or lessened to get 
this result, due to the difference 
in the weight of different pieces 
of wood. 



A PARTNERSHIP KINK 

By H. S. Bassett 

The Kink Contest reminded 
me of a little experience I had 
while fishing with my friends, 
Alva Jones and W. H. Fry near 
Sullivan, III, late last season in 
the Okaw River, and I think you 



148 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



will agree with me in calling same 
a kink. 

The Okaw at this point is not 
less than 125 feet wide and in try- 
ing for a likely "bass spot" near 
other side, my Shakespeare Yel- 
low Perch hung on a submerged 
log in the center of the river. I 
of course tried various expedients 
to release it, but with no success. 
A few days before, I had hung 
up in practically the same man- 
ner and, hating to lose this favor- 
ite bait, I undressed and went in 
and got it. This time, however, 
both atmosphere and water were 
very cold, and I hesitated about 
going in, and sat down on a log 
to study the proposition over. 

While sitting there I naturally 
put my hand in my pants pocket 
and encountered my ring of keys. 
It was then the idea was born. I 
yelled to one of my friends to 
come back opposite to me on the 
other shore. When he did so, I 
asked him to tie a heavy sinker on 
his line in place of his bait and 
cast it to me. This he did. 



taut line. Say, there was "noth- 
ing to it." That ring went direct 
to the minnow and disengaged it. 
I reeled it back, returned his line. 
I then put my keys back on the 
rmg and in my pocket, and was 
happy, at least for that time. I 
got several bass that day, but 
that was the only time during the 
trip that we needed the kink. 



CASTING THE LOOP KINK 

By M. p. Keefe 
How many times, when fly cast- 
ing, have you had your favorite 
fly or fly spinner snag in a pool 
that you did not wish to distuib 
by wading into? Or perhaps the 
pool was too deep to wade to 
where fly was caught on rock or 




I then took my keys off the 
ring, put ring over my line, tied 
his line to it and asked him to 
reel- in, I at same time keeping a 



gravel (or log, if hook is not in 
too deep). 

Well, the next time you have 
this happen, try this kink: Draw 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



149 




from reel 6 to 8 feet more line 
than it takes to reach snag when 
rod is in position for forward cast 
(Fig. 1). Cast forward sharply 
and line should land at least 3 
feet past where snag is. 

Now, let the line sink in the 
water a little. This is to get 
more friction from the water 
than if you should not let it sink. 
(Fig. 2.) Then retrieve line as 
in any back cast, only use a little 
more power than ordinary. (Fig. 
3.) Your fly or spinner will 



have saved many a fly and fly- 
spoon by doing so. 



A KINKY LINE 

By M. B. Ames 

Without doubt you have be- 
come more or less careless at 
times when trolling with two or 




come free of snag sure if caught 
on a stone, and in lots of cases 
if it is caught on a log. I have 
used this method for years and 



more lines and the first thing you 
know you have two lines com- 
pletely tangled up, one wound 
around the other hundreds of 



150 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



times. When you attempt to reel 
in you get tangled more and more 
until you feel like throwing lines 
and all overboard. This is what 
happened to Wes. and me this 
spring while trolling for salmon 
in Sebago Lake, Maine. 

We had had some good fishing 
and were trolling with three lines 
out when I got one of those 
"Dandy Strikes" (which we 
landed). In the meantime Wes. 
started to reel in the extra lines, 
which had become completely 
twisted and kinked, and you know 
what that means. 

After landing the salmon and 
the excitement all over, for the 
time being, the next thing was, 
"Look at that line !" Fussing^ 
awhile with it, Wes. suggested go- 
ing ashore and unsnarling which* 
would take an hour or more. But 
having been in about the same 
mixup manj' times before, I sug- 
gested this old method of mine. 

We took off everything, includ- 
ing the leader, from each line, 
and then very carefully dropped 
the lines overboard into the water. 
As the boat was moving all the 
time, of course, it trailed behind. 
After putting it all out, each of 
us took a rod and began reeling 
in slowly, letting the twisted line 
unroll itself in the water. In a 
few minutes our lines were all 
reeled in ready to be fastened to 
the leader and resume fishing. 

Hope this kink will be of use to 
some of the new fishermen if not 
to older ones, as it is a "life saver" 
for the lines in many cases. 



A KINK SPREADER 

By Chas. Forsyth 

One day last spring the catfish 
were biting real well. Indeed 
they were swallowing the hook 
down into the stomach in the ma- 
jority of cases, and not having 
any hook extractor, I came home 
at night with my fingers all 
chewed up. This was not the 
first time I have had that happen 
taking fish off the hook, but it 
was about the worst; so I set 
about to try and invent some way 
to obviate the trouble and save 
my fingers, and turned out the 
following simple little article that 
will do the work on any kind of a 
fish. 

The accompanying cut describes 
^the "Kink Spreader" as well as 
words. 

It is made from a rather heavy 
piece of spring wire, and as for 
size, is made according to the size 
of fish you are catching; the big- 
ger the fish, the bigger the 
spreader has to be. The one I 
made for -fish up to a couple of 
pounds is 6 inches long from A 
to B and 1^ inches wide at the 
loop A, with points C-C turned 
up about J4 inch. These points 
want to be sharpened some, but 
not enough to pierce the mouth. 

To use same, when your fish 
swallows the hook into the stom- 
ach — which quite often happens 
at certain times, especially with a 
catfish — press points together and 
insert inside the lips, let loose, 
and the mouth will be spread open 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



151 



to full extent, giving you plenty 
of room to get your fingers down 
inside and extract the hook. With 
the spreader in place, it is im- 
possible for the fish to close its 
mouth and lacerate your fingers. 
Another thing I find it quite 
handy for, is in cleaning the fish. 
You all know a fish — especially a 
cat — is rather an awkward thing 
to hold to, and more so, if they 
are alive. I always insert and hold 
to the spreader, then they can be 




them much in our local waters on 
account of the carp. These latter 
are hogs for the fat juicy lumps 
of crab meat. 

Carp fi.<^herman should try this 
one. Take a nice deep eddy and 
place your bait about six feet bfe- 
yond it in the current. You will 
have better success than in dead 
water, as the fish prefer to feed 
on the edge of the current. An- 
other thing to remember is that 
no matter how hard a carp hits 

<; 



IV 




washed and their heads cut off 
with ease, and I run no risk of 
being stabbed. 



LIVE BAIT WISDOM 

By Fred Rupert 

For river fishing there are prac- 
tically only two kinds of live bait 
that will stand the pounding of a 
good many throws and still re- 
main in serviceable condition. 
These are the soft shelled crab 
and the helgramite. Of the two 
I prefer the crabs, but do not use 




the bait, never strike him until he 
runs. This rule also holds good 
in bass fishing. 

In fishing with helgramites — 
first catch your bait. There are 
several good ways of doing this. 
First, if you have plenty of money, 
use some of k. Second, buy 
about six feet of wire screening 
with a quarter-inch mesh. Fasten 
this to sticks at either end, the 
same as with an ordinary net.. 
Stretch your screen across below 
where vou think the bugs are 
and rake the bottom down stream 



152 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



towards the net. The current will 
carry them into the net. Third, 
use your hands, but always turn 
your stone against the current. 

There are a dozen ways of put- 
ting the helgramite on your hook. 
The best one I believe, is to turn 
the hook sideways and slip it 
under the collar. (See sketch.) 




This keeps the barb of the hook 
from tearing the bug, and they 
are in better condition for use. 
I have several times caught four 
and five bass on one helgramite 
hooked in the manner described. 
And don't forget to move your 
bait every two or three minutes. 
Otherwise you may find that it 
has crawled under a stone. 

I have kept helgramites alive 
two and three months at a time 
by filling a minnow bucket half 
up with dry, rotten wood and then 
putting in the bugs. Keep in a 
damp cool place (the cellar is 
good), but never put the bugs in 
water again until they are on your 
hook. 



SKINNING THE CAT 

By Charles W. Carter 

"There is more than one way to 
skin a cat." So the old saw says. 
But as it does not tell of even 
one good way, I always consid- 
ered it a perfectly useless old 



saw. What is true of cats in gen- 
eral is true of the catfish in par- 
ticular. There is more than one 
way to get his hide. And I am 
going to go the old saw one better 
by giving the one best kink for 
skinning the cat with neatness 
and dispatch. 

First, whittle a hardwood peg 
the size and shape of a pointed 
lead pencil. A meat skewer from 
the butcher shop does very well. 
If you are going to have much 
use for it, whittle it from a broom 
handle or a hardwood stick of 
similar size, leaving a comfort- 
able handle on one end. (Fig. 1.) 
Next, with the point of the knife 
slit the skin of your cat from 
head to tail into convenient sized 




strips. Then holding the head of 
the fish in the left hand, thrust 
your peg through under the skin 
next the head, entering at one 
slit and emerging at the next one. 
(Fig. 2.) Now, holding the head 
firmly, move the peg quickly from 
head to tail with the same motion 
you would make in cutting a long 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



153 



shaving from a soft pine stick. 
(Fig. 3.) You will be surprised 
at the ease with which the strip of 
skin is removed. Treat each strip 
in a similar way, twist off the 
head, pull out the guts and your 
cat is cleaned. 

Next, roll him in corn-meal — 
but you know the rest. 



GOING LIGHT 

By James A. Heller 

One of the things which appeals 
to the caster of artificial baits is 
the facility with which he can pick 
up and go. He does not have to 





spend a day getting bait or lug 
around a lot of paraphernalia for 
getting it before he can start fish- 
ing. Just puts a couple of plugs 
in his creel or pockets and starts. 
But hold, I said a couple. I will 
take that back. There was a time 
when that was true, but now the 
up-to-date caster starts out with a 
remodeled edition of his father's 
tin cash box, which is not much 
better than a bucket of live bait 
when it comes to carrying it a 
few miles. 

Now, by spending a few cents 
for some wire and cutting in 
lengths of say five inches and 
bending it as per sketch No. 1, 



these little wire hooks can be 
pushed over the rim of your creel 
and do not in any way interfere 
with the closing of the lid. You 
can hang a number of your baits 
on these little hooks on the inside 
and when you start fishing you 
can hang what you think you are 
going to use on the outside, (see 
No, 3). You will be surprised 
at the number of baits you can 
carry this way and the ease 
and rapidity with which you can 
change from one bait to another. 
For a permanent attachment you 
can make little wire rings (see 
No. 2) and fasten around the rim. 




N2. Z. 



To these you should attach a 
small snap swived to which the 
bait can be attached and there is 
no chance of their being lost. 



A SURE HOOKING FLY 

By Geo. C. Knaur 

Here is a kink that I hope will 
interest some one. Many bass 
strikes are lost on flies on ac- 
count of the hook slipping be- 
tween the jaws of Mr. Bass. If 
the hook has a sneck bend to it 
it's less apt to happen than with 
a straight hook. I have found 
one way to be sure of hooking 
Mr. Bass if he strikes the hook. 



154 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



Here it is : Take a treble hook 
and a small one so that the eye 
won't slip over the barb of the 
fly hook. Melt or file the solder 
off, releasing the third hook. 
That will spring over the fly hook 
and insure most any strike you 
may get. Then it is up to you 
to land your fish. 



A KINK ON FISH TRANS- 
PORTATION 

By George Raveling 

Have you ever taken a trip to 
some isolated lake, fished for a 
couple of days and captured a fine 
mess of the finny beauties and on 
the morning of departure turned 
them all back out of your live 
box into the lake on account of 
not being able to procure ice, and 
a pail to carry them in, or because 
both were too cumbersome to han- 
dle while changing from one 
train to another? 

Most of us have, however badly 
we have wanted to take just a 
mess home to our family or a 
couple to pass along to some 
doubting Thomas who seemed 
skeptical about our tales (tales, 
mind you, not tails), of what we 
caught. Here is how I succeeded 
in taking a nice little bunch home 
without being cumbersome and 
without ice on a warm June day, 
although the location of the fish- 
ing waters made it necessary to 
travel all day and make five 
changes en route. 

First the fish were gutted and 
gilled and washed clean inside 



and out. Then the insides were 
stuffed with green cottonwood 
leaves and more leaves spread 
upon several thicknesses of paper 
upon which the fish were placed, 
and another layer of leaves over 
the fish. Then the bundle was 
rolled up, being careful to over- 
lap the ends, and several more 
papers wrapped around the out- 
side. 

The package, upon being un- 
wrapped after the journey, dis- 
closed the fish in as fine shape as 
when they left the lake; and let 
me tell you, they look real 
tempting in a bed of nice green 
leaves. 

H leaves are not available, good 
clean slough grass will serve the 
purpose just as well. 



THE PORK RIND FROG 

By W. T. Lerow 

Have you ever been fishing and 
after using every bait you had in 
your tackle box and getting nary 
a strike, had a farmer boy come 
rowing by with a string of fine 
bass and pickerel? What bait 
was he using? you ask. Just a 
common frog. Do you remember 
how you frantically rowed to the 
shore in search of some frogs 
and found plenty so small they 
still had the pollywog tails? There 
was just one frog of the right 
size for casting and after a mad 
scramble he got away. Well, I 
was in the same fix and I wanted 
fish because the folks at home 
would have the laugh on me if I 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



155 



didn't bring home at least one 
fish. 

I sat down to think out how [ 
could get a frog and at last the 
happy thougljt came— I would 
make one out of pork rind. I cut 
a piece of pork rind 3^ inches 
long, 1 inch wide and ^ inch 
thick. I cut it thick so it would 
weigh enough to cast well, but 
I cut down some and rounded it 
so it would be as near like a frog 
as possible. 

I then cut a V (see Fig. 1) 1^4 
inches from one end, that left two 
streamers for the hind legs. Next 
make two cuts ^ inch deep at 
the other end running the length 
of the strip. These are for the 
front legs; then shape the head 
to suit yourself, also the sides so 
they have the right curve. 

Then try out your frog to see 
if it casts well. 

In trimming up your frog don't 
cut away too much until you see 
if it casts well. If it is too heavy 
it is easy enough to cut away some 
more, but if it is not heavy 
enough you will have to make a 
new one or use a weighted hook. 

I use a Stanley Weedless, either 
with or without a spinner, and 
mostly without a weight. With 
the Stanley you can cast in the lily 
pads and rushes and hook and 
land a fair per cent of the strikes. 

The first time I tried the Pork 
Rind Frog I didn't have much 
success, so rowed 'way back in 
the lily pads near the shore and 
I took some of the green scum 
and rubbed it on the Pork Rind 



Frog to give it a froggy color. 
Then I tried it out again and had 
fair success. You can take a little 
of the scum and rub on every 




TUe Port I?.\,J 




r.93 

Side Vifvy 

little while as the casting wears 
the color off. 

While the Pork Rind Frog will 
catch fish, it is not quite as good 
as the real thing, but a few fish 
is better than none. 



FIXING MAD TOMS FOR 
BAIT 

By W. C. Money 
Speaking of kinks, how many 
of you black-bass fishermen have 
put a nice lively mad-tom (cat- 
fish) on your hook, made your 
cast to a likely looking hole and 
let it stay there for a while, won- 
dering why the fish do not take it? 
Then you get tired of waiting, try 
to reel in your line to change 
holes and find you cannot move 
it. Why? The tom has found a 



156 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



nice rock on the bottom and has 

gotten under it. And let me say 
right here, when a mad torn gets 
under a rock, he will come pretty 
near staying there, and if you pull 
your line trying to coax him out, 




the first thing you know the line 
will come in minus the bait or cut 
by the rock. Many of you will 
say, "put a small cork on the 
snell of the hook and keep him 
out of the rocks." Well, that's 
a good idea but when Mr. Bass 
sees a mad-tom swimming, he 
knows he does not carry any body- 
guard with him in the shape of 
a slug cork. 

Now that you've read this ex- 
plosion, I give you the kink. 

Take Mr. Tom in your left 
hand (careful of his prongs), and 
with your sharp knife skin about 
a quarter of an inch of hide from 
the back of his head (see dia- 
gram). This well keep him out 
of weeds, rocks, and away from 
all growth that will Impede his 
efforts to attract the fish. The 
idea is this : Suppose yo.u had a 
wound on your hand — just some 
skin knocked off — and in some 
way the skinned surface came in 
contact with a board or your coat. 
You would pull it away, wouldn't 
you, and mighty quick, too ? Well, 
so will the mad-tom. When he 
starts under a rock and scrapes 



his head he will come out, and if 
he scratches his head on some 
grass he will also come out. Try 
this, boys, and if you don't have 
more pleasure with less sweating 
and catch more fish then — I am 
stung. 



ROD WINDING WITH A 
NEEDLE 

By R. W. Homer 

All of us have rewound our 
rods at some time and some of 
us have had a little trouble tying 
the ends of the wrapping. I re- 
member when I wound my first 
rod, I spent more time fastening 
the ends of the thread than I did 
in making the wrap. 

Of late I have used the follow- 
ing method and found it worked 
fine: I take a fine needle, just 





large enough to permit thread- 
ing with the silk. Thread the 
needle and lay it along the rod 
(Fig. 1), allowing the needle to 
hold the thread against the rod 
at the point you wish to start 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



157 



winding. The thread thru the eye 
will hold the loose end until the 
wrap is started. Wind back to- 
ward the eye over needle, and 
loose end (which is thru the 
eye) till the winding is the size 
you wish. Then remove thread 
from eye and replace it with the 
end you have been wrapping from. 
Pull the needle thru and you have 
both ends entirely under the wrap 
and well tied down. 

Where the rod is very thin, as 
at the tip, when the needle is re- 
moved the winding will be a little 
loose. This can be tightened by 
twisting the winding in the di- 
rection it was put on and pulling 
the ends till it becomes snug. 
Cut the loose ends close to the 
wrap and it will stay till the 
thread breaks, even if never varn- 
ished. 

A FLOAT KINK 

By Adolph Sickel 

When placing the float upon 
my line one day, I found 
that I had lost the small brass 
clip and screw eye through 
which the line was ordinarily 
fastened. I therefore had to tie 
the line to the float, which was 
decidedly unhandy, as it would 
not slip up or down without un- 
tying the knots. 

Upon returning home, I took 
a bit of wire and bent it into the 
shape of a small hairpin; I then 
made a twist about one-half inch 
from the bend, as shown in Fig- 
ure A. The resultant loop was 
fastened to the stick on the float. 



by twisting the end of wire 
around it, and a similar loop was 
placed on the other end of the 
float. 

To place this combination upon 
the line, pass a loop of the line 






through the wire loop and over 
the stick, as shown in Figure C. 
Repeat this at the other end of 
the float, and the trick is done. 
These fasteners don't lose off. 
While the float is held tightly, it 
can readily be removed without 
taking the hook from the line, or 
slipped up and down, as desired. 



MAKING YOUR LINE 
WATERPROOF 

By Geo. Krumsick 

There are a good many anglers 
who go fly-fishing and often have 
to use an ordinary line for this 
purpose, as all fly fishermen do 
not have an enamaled line handy 



158 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



at all times. I know this to be a 
fact, as I have been in the same 
boat on many occasions and had 
to do my fly fishing with a water- 
soaked line, which runs very 
poorly and makes the sport hard 
work. However, last summer I 
thought out a trick that works 
well in this case, and it is done 
as follows: Before going to the 
river or lake, hang your ordinary 
line out in the hot sun, rub it with 
wax, and then run it through 
your hands to smooth it off. Take 
the line in the shade, reel it up, 
and you are ready for business. 
A line treated in this manner will 
be fairly stiff and give you good 
results. 



mg 



A CARRY-ALL BAG 

By D. T. Barnett 

The rough sketches accompany- 
ing show a bag that my friends 
tell me has solved the carrying 
problem. I have made six of 
these bags so far, and they have 
been a real success. 

It is surpris- 
what a lot 
of junk may be 
carried in a bag 
of this shape. 
Mine has often 
held a quart 
Thermos bottle 

^ ,n) \ // ^^ ^^^ bottom. 
Next a 14 by 10 
by 4-inch tackle 
box, a pair of 
hip boots, a 
raincoat or a 




silk wedge tent. And to top it all 
off, a light blanket. 

This bag can be made out of 
any suitable material. The top is 
left any width to suit your fancy. 




/? 



^r^ 



being pulled together with a 
drawstring after the bag is filled. 
The shoulder straps are 2 inches 
wide. The left one is sewed on 
at both ends. The right one is 
sewed on only at the top, 
fastening at the lower end by 
means of a harness snap to a D 
ring sewed to the bag. The flap 
is in two pieces, sewed together 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



159 



through the middle and then 
turned. This bag is "good med- 
icine" and worth trying out. 



HANDY CLEANER FOR 
THE .22 

By Roy Fields 

Here is a kink that may be ap- 
preciated by some of our "light 
armed." It is a cleaner for a .22. 

Get a speedometer "chain" of 
the type that is nothing more than 
a small coil spring. These are 
made of the best spring wire and 
are just the thing for a cleaner. 
Cut it off the right length. Coil 
it up and put it in your pocket 
and when you get ready for it you 
have it without the bother of a 
long brass wire, etc. 



FREEING THE LEADER 

By a. C. Bigelow 

It may be possible to fish in a 
trout stream with a fly and never 
get the leader with the fly caught 
in some high-hanging branch of 
a tree; but I believe that one of 
the most frequent causes of justi- 
fiable profanity comes from this 
kind of an occurrence. In many 
cases, aside from the ordniary 
vexation, is added the loss of 
tackle because the branch is too 
high to be reached. 

I now always carry a heavy 
hunting knife with keen edge, in 
the usual leather case, strapped 
on the belt about my waist. When 
my tackle is caught quite beyond 
my reach, I simply look about 
for a small straight sapling with 



small branch growing near the 
bottom. Then cut it off just be- 
low the branch, trim it to make 
a crotch (trimming all other 
branches off) and reversing the 
sapling, I loft the crotch end till 
I can hook on to the offending 
branch to bring it within reach 
and get my tackle. As the knife 
is always right to hand, I use 
it for all cutting purposes, in- 
stead of fishing in my pocket for 
my other knife. A fairly heavy 
knife will cut a good sized stick 
in short order. 



FOR CARRYING SPOONS 

By Ray E. Parker 

Here is a kink that may be of 
use to some brother who uses 
the fly-spoon and the regular 
spoons as well. Take a sheet of 
thin stiff metal (I used spring 
brass) and cut same into sizes 
same as the leaves of your fly 
book. 

Now get some large brass 
hooks, such as are used on skirts, 




etc., and rivet or solder them in 
a row at each end of the sheets 
about ^4 of an inch apart and 
about ^ inch from the ends of 
the sheets. Now put the tying 
end of the fly-spoon on one hook 



160 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



and, slipping a small rubber 
band over the fly hook, loop 
the other end on the hook 
opposite the one on which the 
other end of the spoon is fast- 
ened. Thus the spoons are easy 
to get at at all times and never 
become snarled as they do when 
carried loose in a tackle box, 
which sure saves a pile of cussing 
in the course of a season. 

By placing hooks in similar fash- 
ion in the bottom and in the lid of 
a tobacco box which opens up 
flat-ways, the some good results 
can be obtained with spoons hav- 
ing treble hooks. 



MACARONI FOR BAIT 

By Gilbert Dust 

Get a dime's worth of macaroni 
and put it in a pan of cold water, 
breaking the macaroni Into lengths 
of about three inches. Put it on 
a fire and allow it to get hot 
through, or until it is tough and 
limber and then take it off and 
pinch into lengths of about one 
and one-half inches and it is then 
ready for use. 

To bait your hook simply string 
on like a worm and you will 
doubtless find you have a good 
all-around substitute for such 
fish as channel cat, white perch, 
buffalo, carp and suckers. 



AN EXCELLENT PERCH 
BAIT 

By R. B. Hockings 

Anglers who have fished for 
perch, find it very disgusting to 



keep changing the water on min- 
nows every little while, and then 
having some of them die; having 
to put their hands in the pail to 
catch a minnow, and having a lot 
of trouble getting minnows at all 
when they want to go fishing. So 
I have a kink to tell you that will 
relieve you of all further trouble 
of this kind. 

I was visiting with an old ang- 
ler a short time ago and we got 
to talking about bass, pickerel; in 
fact, all kinds of baits. 

After talking a while I got him 
to tell me how it was he always 
managed to catch so many perch. 

He said he always used to use 
minnows until recent years, and 




always with pretty good success. 
But one day, as he was walking 
along the street, he saw a piece 
of tinfoil lying on the sidewalk. 
He picked it up and began to 
smooth it out, when a thought 
came to him. Why not use tin- 
foil instead of minnows? He 
made up his mind then and there 
to try it the next day. 

Bright and early the next morn- 
ing he rowed out to his favorite 
fishing spot to try out his new 
bait. He dropped anchor, got out 
his poles, then took a piece of tin 
foil about VA inches square (Fig. 
A in sketch) and rolled it (Fig. 
B in sketch). Then took his hook 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



161 



and hooked it in about the mid- 
dle of the rolled tinfoil. Then 
he twisted it about three times 
and bent the corners down on one 
end, making it pointed so that it 
looked about the shape of a min- 
now (Fig. C shows it completed). 
When this was done he tossed it 
into the water and in just a few 
minutes he was rewarded with a 
nice, big perch, and in a very 
little while he had a big string 
of fish. Then, too, he was able 
to catch from five to six perch on 
the one tinfoil bait, where with 
minnows, one perch usually meant 
one or more minnows. 
Anyone trying this kink will find 
it an interesting, excellent and 
inexpensive perch bait. 



Meramec River "catfish weighing 
up to eight pounds are caught in 
this manner. 



CATCHING CATFISH ON 
WILSON WOBBLERS 

By Geo. Krumsick 

Here is a little kink that some 
of our stream fishermen might try 
when they go camping and get 
tired of eating bass at every meal. 
This kink is being used here by 
some of our anglers and is bring- 
ing them channel cat without 
using live bait. The stunt is 
simply this: When you have fin- 
ished casting your wooden min- 
nows in the deep pools for the 
day, tie them to a short trot-line 
and stretch it across the riffles 
where the water is swift and 
about two feet deep. The current 
will keep the wobl)ler going all 
night, and when Mr. Channel Cat 
comes up to feed he'll nab the 
plug and stay there. Here in the 



A HANDY SWIVEL-SNAP 

By Lee Stibbe 

The v/ire shank and swivel 
taken from an old spoon makes 
an excellent snap for fastening 
baits on a bait-casting line. Re- 
move the hooks, spoon and beads, 
leaving only the wire with the 
swivel at one end. Fasten the 
line to the swivel. The loop at 

A B 

LA-^ 



Q • ^,re J/lant 



^' icne 



the other end of the wire forms 
a perfect snap for taking off •id 
putting on bait. This rig has 
the special advantage that the 
swivel prevents the line from be- 
coming <;wisted. The spoon may 
be left on the shank at times to 
make the bait more killing. 



A NEAT TRICK i 

By John M. Smith 

After casting along the edge of 
the weeds from a boat I found 
that for some reason I could not 
catch fish, although I had a num- 
ber of strikes. So a thought came 
to me. I fitted out a hand line 
and fastened it to a 20-foot cane 
rod, used both live minnows and 
grasshoppers for bait. After bait- 
ing the line I laid it in the boat 
and went on casting. When I had 
another strike I did not make a 
second cast for the fish, but 



162 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



dropped the bait, which was 
fastened to the cane rod, as near 
the spot where the fish struck as 
possible, and in a short time I 
had landed a good bass. 



ROD SPLICING 

By H. J. Blacklidge 

Having never seen directions 
for splicing a broken rod in 
Outer's Book, I will give my 
method for the "Kink Korner." 
"A" shows the broken ends, "B" 
the way they should be whittled 
down to a long level. In my 
pocket tool kit I carry an eight- 
inch, fine-tooth wood rasp. With 
this I smooth the irregularities 
left by the pocket knife until the 
t\^^6 long bevels fit perfectly when 
placed together. Then they are 
covered with a thin layer of shoe- 
maker's wax, and pressed tightly 
together. 

Next they are wrapped with 
well waxed silk. Let the end lie 



7Z 



b 



) 7 ? yp)mmmmmT 




c 

along the rod and wrap over it 

a dozen turns in beginning. Wrap 

carefully — conscientiously — until 

you have gone beyond the ends 



of the beveled part. Then to tie 
an invisible knot proceed as shown 
in the last sketch. Make four or 
five loose loops just as shown and 
pass the end under last lap of the 
winding. Now, as you go on 
winding, the loose loops you have 
just made will unwind. When 
they are all unwound, pull the 
end through and cut it off close 
up and — go on fishing. Of course, 
your rod will be a little lighter 
and a little stiffer than before, 
but that is better than quitting, 
isn't it? 

It is well also to have a little 
bottle of shellac along with you 
and give the splice a coat of it. 
The shellac will dry while you are 
smoking one pipe — if not sooner. 



THE TROLLING LINE 
SPRING 

By W. J. Fuller 

Here is a Kink that is the re- 
sult of sad experience. While 
trolling one day, the long looked 
for "big one" hit my bait and im- 
mediately broke the line with his 
first heavy lunge. I thought the 
matter over on my way to town, 
and went to a hardware store and 
bought an ordinary coil spring, 
such as is used on screen doors. 
One end of this I hooked to a 
screw eye in the rowing seat at 
my right hand. At the other end 
I fastened my trolling line. In 
the stern of the boat I placed a 
yoke or fork through which the 
line ran out. An extra oar lock 
can be used for this purpose. 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



163 



For those who like to go troll- 
ing alone, this Kink will be very- 
useful, as the spring does away 
with all chances of your line be- 




YOKL 



ing broken by the strike of a big 
fish or by being snagged. 



A SIMPLE LINE DRYER 

By Geo. C. Whitney 

A very simple line dryer kink 
is to pull the line off the reel or 
spool into a pile or heap, just as 
it piles naturally on the floor, 
chair, table or dresser. Leave the 
end lying to one side so as to be 
easily found when dry. No fold- 
ing contrivances or rusty nails 
whatever to bother with and al- 
ways some place handy. When 
dry run top end through rod, fas- 
ten to reel and wind up. Simple 
as rolling off a log and no "kink" 
either. 

A very handy back-lash tool, 
and I believe an improvement on 
Brother Field's, smaller, lighter 
and neater, is a woman's crochet 
needle, size No. 6. 



AN 



PERCH 



EXCELLENT 
BAIT 

By N. D. Hager 

By following these directions 
you can make a bait that will 
catch from one to a dozen perch 
before giving out. 

We will assume that you have 
already caught a perch, that being 



necessary in order to make the 
bait. 

Cut a section out of the top 
edge of the tail of the perch, 
about one-half inch thick and one 
and one-half inches long (see 
Fig. 1). 

You will then have a piece 
shaped like Fig. 2. 




-^^f. 



Fc)^IL 




F^'gM 



Put this on hook by running 
hook through, as shown in Fig. 
3, and your bait is ready. 

You will find that perch will 
bite on this bait quicker than on 
a minnow. 

Good luck to all who try it. 



FLOATING THE TROUT 
BAIT 

By Thomas J. Lutton 

On small and very brushy 
streams, where one must fish for 
trout with bait if at all, a float 
or "bobber" is usually considered 
more of nuisance than a help. 
And indeed this is so over many 
parts of the stream. Many ang- 
lers, as a result of this, forget 



164 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



entirely that there is such a de- 
vice and that it may possibly be of 
use to them sometimes. 

But there is a time and a place 
for everything and the float has 
a most decided place on this kind 
of a stream. Often 3'ou come 
to beautiful little holes, but so 
brush covered and with such a 
slow current that it seems impos- 
sible to get your bait down into 
them. Here is where the float 
comes in. I always carry a good 
split cork, but a small branch or 
chip will do nearly as well. Fasten 
this on the line so that it will 
carry your bait just above the 
bottom. Then flip it into the 
water and watch it slowly carry 
your bait to the exact spot you 
want to reach. And it gets the 
fish, too, fish that you could not 
possibly connect with in any other 
way. 



BEADS FOR SALMON 
EGGS 

By E. S. Brooks 

It is unlawful to use salmon 
eggs for bait in Oregon, but there 
is nothing said about amber beads. 
So I take a small vial, fiill it with 




small amber beads the size of 
salmon eggs, put in some water 
and cork it up. I attach my 
triple hook with a small rubber 



band around one hook, fasten it 
to the neck of the vial with a few 
turns of a fine fish line, and there 
you are. 

It works equally well with a 
good, fat grasshopper or gram- 
pus, but in that case I do not put 
any water in the vial, as they are 
surface baits. The glass being in- 
visible in the water, the redsides 
go for the bait to beat three of 
a kind. 



A LITTLE TIME SAVER 

By F. H. Bohn 

When fishing for trout or other 
small fish one wastes considerable 
time and a good deal of patience 
while taking them off the hook. I 
have found that it pays well to 
kill them before taking them off. 
Just slip the thumb under the gill 
on one side and the forefinger 
on the other, and give a quick, 
hard squeeze with the nails, where 
the head and body connect. The 
fish is killed instantly and will 
not bother you by kicking and 
flopping while you are extracting 
the hook. I have found also that 
fish killed as soon as caught keep 
much longer and better than if 
they are allowed to die a linger- 
ing death in the basket or on a 
stringer. 



A HANDY ROD HANGER 

By George H, Sackett 

Having had trouble in hanging 
up my Heddon $1.50 rod (in 
order to straighten it), I devised 
the arrangement described here- 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



165 



with, which holds it straight and 
does it almost anywhere. The 
material is a piece of heavy gauge 
copper wire about seven inches 
long; this is doubled back on it- 
self (Fig. 1). It is then twisted 




get them, as it has such a sweet 
savor that if the carp come within 
2 feet they will sure jump for this 
bait. Put the dough balls in hot 
water and cook about ten minutes, 
or until they will float. The balls 
will then be firm and slick. The 
sweet anise roots can be found 
along the sides of creeks or bluffs. 
This bait will get the carp if you 
want them. Try it, brothers. 



ROD HANGER NOTICK 
ANGLE AT -A.' 



for about two-thirds its length, as 
shown in Fig. 2. It is then bent, 
as in Fig. 3, which shows finished 
holder with rod in place. The 
angle at A (Fig. 3) should be 
the same as the angle of the top, 
so that same will not turn. Now, 
it is finished. Shde the tip in the 
opening (shown in Fig. 2 at B), 
and hang it up by a ring from the 
ceiling or anything that the top of 
the holder will slip over. 

A CARP BAIT 

By Louis E. Myers 
This is a "carp" bait kink of 
mine where I cannot catch any- 
thing else. To one pint of corn- 
meal mix one-half pint of flour 
and work until you can hold by 
small pieces and it will spring up 
and down. Make into balls about 
the size of small marbles. Drop 
in bunch of fishworms about the 
size of a walnut and also mix 
some sweet anise roots if you can 



OILING FERRULES 

By Sherwood Buckstaff 
Most anglers clean and oil their 
steel rods several times a year, but 
a bamboo rod does not require 
such attention, and most anglers 
do not take the bother to oil the 
ferrules regularly, often neglect- 
ing them for a whole trip. Con- 
sequently the joints stick annoy- 
ingly, and sometimes cause seri- 
ous trouble, since if one attempts 
to loosen them by heating he runs 
the risk of melting or loosening 
the ferrule cement. I always 
carry with me a small piece of 
flannel which has been soaked in 
oil and squeezed as dry as possi- 
ble. This does not make the 
pocket oily — indeed, one can 
hardly tell by feeling of it that it 
is oily— but it will oil a rod very 
nicely and keep it in perfect con- 
dition. Moreover, it will keep 
oily almost indefinitely. I picked 
mine up this winter when it had 
not been fixed since summer, and 
found it as good as ever. Try it 
and see. It may be a lifesaver 
some time. 



166 



KINKS OF ALL KINDS 



WHEN THEY STEAL THE 
BAIT 

By Carroll Crank 

While out fishing last fall I had 
the fortune, or misfortune, as you 
choose to call it, to find a place 
where the fish were well educated 
along the lines of bait stealing. 

After my supply of minnows 
was nearly exhausted it occurred 
to me to change baits. But min- 
nows were all I had, so I had to 
manufacture some. 

I took a piece of white cotton 
wrapping cord from my pocket, 
doubled it several times, and tied 
a knot in the middle of it and 
hooked my hook through the 
knot. I then picked the ends 
apart till it was quite bushy. Then 
it was ready for the water. 

I caught more fish in the next 
hour on that one bait than I had 
in the three hours previous, due 
to the fact that the fish could not 
steal mv bait. 



Of course, this bait would not 
be practical for still fishing, yet it 
will work to perfection while 
trolling. 



KEEPING CRAWFISH 
FRESH 

By J. C. Athey 

While contemplating an ex- 
tended fishing trip the keeping of 
crawfish came up. Having taken 
them alive several times without 
success, decided on the following 
method : 

Get about one bushel of nice, 
large craws. Peel the tails while 
alive; put in a Mason jar and seal 
tightl}'. Place in your refriger- 
ator and keep ice cold. On go- 
ing out set jar in minnow bucket 
filled with crushed ice and bait 
will keep as fresh as when peeled. 

If ice is not to be had, peel 
craws, put in water and bring to a 
boil, which will toughen and pre- 
serve them very satisfactorily. 



THE KINK WE'RE LOOKING FOR 

By S. W. Everett 



Gosh all fish-hooks, Jake, 

These yere kinks are some sur- 

prisin' ! 
Orter ketch a fish 
If they're only half a risin'. 



Yep, says I, they do seem fair, 
Yet I'm leetle short o'dubious; 
Ef you'd a had my luck 
You wouldn't be so solubrious. 



Per the kind o' kinks I'm lookin' fer — 
Just mark yer Uncle Benny — 
Is how ter ketch a fish in this yer creek 
When yer know there isn't any. 



CONTENTS 



Alcohol Blow Lamp, The 75 

Alder Bait, The 104 

Antproof Bread Box, An 28 

Another Pork Rind Stunt !l27 

Another Porker 86 

Another Sliding Float 68 

Backlash Tool, A 103 

Bait Belt, A 121 

Bait Improvement, A 76 

Bait with an Overcoat, The 74 

Bamboo Rod Case, A 94 

Barbecue Fork, A 67 

Beads for Salmon Eggs 164 

Bee Stings, For 82 

Bluegill Tip-Up, The 43 

Boat Cushion, A 143 

Bobber Wobbler, A .76 

Bottle Cap Fish Scales, The 134 

Brightening the Phantom 25 

Broken Ring Guide, A Ill 

Camera Kink, A 52 

Camp Candlestick, A 35 

Camp Refrigerator, A 82 

Camp Knife, A 24 

Canoe Shelter Tent, The 46 

Carp Bait, A 165 

Carry-All Bag, A 158 

Carrying Creel or Canteen s 19 

Carr\'ing Spoons, For 159 

Cartridge Belts 41 

Casting the Loop Kink 148 

Catching Catfish on Wilson Wobblers 161 

Chicken Neck Bait, The 101 

Cigar Box Tackle Carrier, My 56 

Clothes Hook Rod Hanger, The 102 

Clothespin Plug, A 60 

Collapsible Landing Net, A 52 

Compact Outfit, A 62 

Corn for Carp 59 

Cotter Pin Emergency Top, The 142 

167 



168 CONTENTS 

Craw-Fish and Candy : 120 

Creel Cover Bait Box 114 

Creel Cover Fly Book, The 92 

Cricket "Farm," A 134 

Deep Water TroUer 17 

Doctoring the Leader 8 

Dried Houseflies for Bait 102 

Driving Stakes 14 

Driving Splitting Stakes 44 

Doubling Up the Stopple Kit 64 

Duck Kink, A 7 

Earning Their Way 34 

Easily Made Live Box, An 81 

Emergency Anchor, An 89 

Emergency Foot Rest, An 12 

Emergency Kit, The 30 

Emergency Leader, An 141 

Emergency Match Supply, The 11 

Emergency Weedless, An 103 

Excellent Crappie Bait, An 145 

Excellent Float for Live Bait, An 78 

Excellent Perch Bait, An 160 

Excellent Perch Bait, An 163 

Extemporizing a Casting Rod 138 

Eyed Fly Box, An 131 

Fancy Sitch, A 70 

Finger Ring Spooler, The 61 

Fire Jack, A 8 

Fish Bag, A 82 

Fisherman's War Belt, A ZZ 

Fishing from the Bank 26 

Fish Kite, The 146 

Fish Saver, A 125 

Fish Scaler and Knife 46 

Fixing Mad Toms for Bait 155 

Flexible Gaff, A * 17 

Float Kink, A 157 

Floating Live Bait. For 118 

Floating the Trout Bait 163 

Folding Line Dryer 93 

Fooling the Small Mouths 39 

Freeing the Leader 159 

Freeing the Line 21 

Frog Saver, A 102 



CONTENTS 169 

Gangs Can't Twist Out 10 

Gathering Information 89 

Getting Them Off the Hook 63 

Gillette Users, For 83 

Going Light 153 

Good Carrying Case, A 90 

Good Flare, A 21 

Good Frog Hook, A /8 

Good Hook Tie, A 29 

Good Sinker for Trout Fishing, A 136 

Good Spinner Rig, A 144 

Greasing Decoys 79 

Handy Berry Pickers' Can, A 58 

Handy Can-Handle Kink, A ■ 26 

Handy Cleaner for the .22 159 

Handy Game Carrier 73 

Handy Hook Holder, A 49 

Handy Minnow Set, A 135 

Handy Rod Hanger, A 164 

Handy Swivel-Snap, A 161 

Helgramite Can, A 12 

Helgramite Harness De Luxe, A 96 

Hinge Fire Rack, A 13 

Holding 'Em Down 129 

Home-Made Attractor, A 144 

Home-Made Bait Socket 71 

Home-Made Camp Stove, A 23 

Home-made Enamel for the Plug 108 

Home-made Folding Net, A 31 

Home-Made Rod Tip, A 47 

Home-Made Tackle Box, My 40 

Hook Disgorger, A 106 

Hook They Can't Swallow. A 11 

Hooking Your Fish 50 

Hot Biscuits to Order 43 

Ice Creepers 54 

Improved Oar Lock Fastening 61 

Improving the Frying Pan 55 

Improving the Model 1914 Savage .22 35 

Improving the Minnow Can 7 

Improving Tube Tips 12 

Improvised Tandem, An 10 

Indexing Kinks 25 

Ingenious Tackle Box, An 38 

It Got a Big One 138 



170 CONTENTS 

Just Adhesive Plaster 85 

Keep Your Hopper Alive 12 

Keeping Agate Tip from Chipping or Breaking 72 

Keeping Crawfish Fresh 166 

Keeping Eyed Flies 70 

Keeping Minnows Alive 65 

Kink of Kinks, The 137 

Kink on Fish Transportation, A 154 

Kink Pole Holder, A 98 

Kink Spreader, A 150 

Kink That Saved the Day, A 109 

Kink We're Looking For, The 166 

Kinky Line, A 149 

Knife Sheath Kink, A 89 

Knocked-down Fire Grate, A 29 

Leaders from Hook Snells 143 

Left-Handed Casting Reel, A 11 

Lighting Fire with Water 106 

Line-Drying Device 20 

Little Time Saver, A 164 

Live Bait Carrier, A 57 

Live Bait Wisdom 151 

Live Trout When You Want Them 127 

Loop Winding Pull, The 79 

Macaroni for Bait 160 

Makes for Accurate Statements 80 

Make Your Reel Self Striking 9 

Making Your Line Waterproof 157 

Making a Rod 24 

Measuring by the Rod 99 

Minnow Bucket Trick, A 35 

Minnow Trap, A 100 

More Bream Fishing 62 

Motor Hinge, A 49 

Mounting Leaders Simply 42 

Natural Bait Wobbler, The 129 

Natural Pothook, The 13 

Neat Trick, A 161 

Needles and Thread 86 

Netting and String 117 

Noble Use for the Cockroach, A 140 

Nothin' But Glue 133 



CONTENTS 171 

Oiling Ferrules 165 

Outdoor Stove, An 34 

Overall Pack, The 50 

Packing Plugs 128 

Palouser, The 22 

Partnership Kink, A 147 

Permanent Reel Filling, A i23 

Pickerel Throat Bait, The 13 

Pick-up Kink, A 122 

Pig Tails for Bass 126 

Plug Carrier, A 80 

Pork Rind Frog, The 154 

Quick Colors for Baits 26 

Quick Untying Knot, A 113 

Rapid Fire Fish Cleaning 69 

Raw Onion Poultice for Snakebite 86 

"Real" Oil for Reels, A 85 

Removing a Ferrule 100 

Repairing Steel Rods 66 

Rest Your Bones 146 

Rod Case and Tripod 131 

Rod Splicing 162 

Rod Winding with a Needle 156 

Rubber Tape Kink, A 74 

Safeguarding the Reel 14 

Safety-First Belt, A '. ] 67 

Saving Snagged Baits 126 

Self-Pulled Winding Knot, The 71 

Self-Striking Hook, A 66 

Setting Your Watch by Compass 74 

Shingle Creel, A 58 

Shoe-Eyelet Agate, The 130 

Shooting Our Obstructions 50 

Shotgun Cleaner, A 90 

Shrimp Bait in Fresh Water 132 

Simple Hook Remover, A 28 

Simple Knot, A 11 

Simple Line Dryer, A 163 

Simple Rod Holder, A 23 

Skinning the Cat 152 

Slide Float Arrangement, A 48 

Sliding Float for Bait Casters, The 122 

Snapping Your Own Picture 55 



172 CONTENTS 

Snelled Hook Carrier, A 83 

Splicing a Break in a Bamboo Rod 64 

Spoon Float, A 17 

Spoon Minnow Bait, A 107 

Squirrel Tail Bait, The 9 

Steel Ring Guides 59 

Sure Hooking Fly, A ; 153 

Take-Down Line Dryer, A 51 

Tape for Reel Seats 130 

Temporary Minnow Net, A 15 

Three Handy Ones 95 

Three Kinks from One Kinker 90 

Three Practical Suggestions 139 

Tight Holster, The 103 

Tin Can Outfit, A '44 

Tin Can Range Phone, The 87 

To Get the Frogs 53 

To the Bait Caster and Duck Hunter 116 

Trolling for Calicoes 124 

Trolling from a Canoe 37 

Trolling Line Spring, The 162 

Trolly Fisherman, For 32 

Trot-Line Kink, A 142 

Turtle Trap, A 84 

Twig Cup Handle, A 54 

Twist Preventer, A 36 

Two Old Friends 84 

Unhooking the Bullhead 81 

Useful Safety Pin, The 60 

Watch Spring Weed Guards 28 

Waterproof Match Safe, A 76 

Waxing Silk Threads for Rod Winding 136 

When the Stream Got Roily 32 

When They Steal the Bait 166 

Wire Game Carrier, A 85 

Worm Weed Guard, The HI 



SUPPLEMENTAL INDEX 



Because of the impossibility of making a satisfactory classification ,of 
the contents of the Kink Book, the publishers realize that the foregoing 
index is not as helpful as it should be. Doubtless every reader will find 
kinks to which he will want to refer frequently, and for his convenience 
the following pages are provided so that he may make his own index of 
favorite kinks. 

Title Page 



173 



174 SUPPLEMENTAL INDEX 

Title Page 



SUPPLEMENTAL INDEX 175 

Title Page 



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a regular reader of OUTER'S BOOK 
— the magazine with the camp-fire flavor. 
Besides the regular Kink Department appear- 
ing in each issue, the OUTER'S BOOK 
publishes a vast amount of practical in- 
formation for the hunter, angler and camper. 
If you want expert advice on guns, rods, 
reels or any piece of sporting paraphernalia, 
you are privileged to consult our several 
editors, who will be pleased to serve you. 

Buy a copy today and get acquainted with 
the livest sportsman s magazine published. 

Ask your news dealer. 



OUTER'S BOOK 



9 S. Clinton St. 



Chicago 







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